Alton Brown's Baked Mac and Cheese

Alton Brown. Like most FN stars, you either love or hate him. I love his quirky show. He is kind of the Cooks Illustrated aka Test Kitchen of the FN. Does it bug you that I like to abbreviate? My friend KD likes it, I like it, it saves time, and causes you to think- "Why does she do this?" Or "What does FN stand for?"

So I'm going to keep doing it.

Anyway. I usually make the Foster Family version of Mac and cheese, but thought the panko topping on this recipe looked yummy, and gave it a try. I learned something while reading the notes on this recipe. Have we talked about this before? Warning! Long ramble on comments: When you get a recipe off of the WWW, always look to see if there are any comments from cooks who have tried the recipe. Some of the comments need to be taken with a grain of salt (haha just realized this is a pun on the following ramble) - you know, kind of like when you read reviews on Trip Advisor (love that site). Some comments are really helpful. If I read a recipe with multiple negative reviews, I steer clear. If you read over and over that a cube of butter can be left out with great results, prob true. So when I read a few pages of reviews on this recipe (there were over 1200), some readers stated the recipe was bland. Then I read a comment about salt in the water. This cook suggested that salting the water meant salting it to the point where it was like SEA water. Ok, well, I spent some time at the ocean recently, and got a little of that in my mouth. I can tell you this. I never salt my pasta water that much. So this time, I did. And it made a difference. Thanks commenter lady. You helped me become a better cook today.

Oh btw - you are going to love this dish. Creamy, cheesy (but not in a sick, processed cheese kind of way) and a little crunchy with the Panko topping.

Alton Brown's Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Food Network

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1/2 pound elbow macaroni (about 2 cups)
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced*
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper

Topping:
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

For Topping:

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Tips:

- *I minced the onion, bc I was making it for a family with younger kids, who I thought might not like onions, I could not detect the onions in the dish after baking.

-To learn how to temper an egg into hot liquid, click on this link for a nifty video tutorial.

or read this: When egg yolks are added into a hot mixture, to help ensure that they do not suddenly cook or scramble, a technique called tampering is used. With a ladle, gradually add about 1 cup of the hot mixture into egg yolks, mixture constantly. Then, add egg yolk mixture to mixture in pan and continue cooking according to the recipe.

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