Homemade mac and cheese

Use goat cheese as one of your three cheeses. Use buttermilk in your bechamel.

16 oz. macaroni
5 cups milk (Combination of your choosing: 3 cups buttermilk & 2 cups half-n-half is excellent. Or use 3 cups sweet milk (whole, 2%, skim) & 2 cups half-n-half or any combo you like, even heavy cream.)
1 stick butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 Tbs. dried mustard
2 lbs of cheese, shredded (All cheddar, or a combo of extra sharp & mild, or extra sharp and Gruyere or extra sharp and goat, or what you like best. Velveeta? I'll avert my eyes.)
Salt & pepper to taste (I like cayenne.)
Bread crumbs (panko is good)
Some Parmigiana Reggiano cheese, grated
A few more pats of butter

Preheat oven to 350. Butter 9 x 11 baking dish.

Cook macaroni as directed on package, but slightly undercooked. You'll be cooking it further when you bake the mac and cheese.

Melt butter in saucepan. Add flour, whisking until well combined, cooking for 2 minutes. Add milk slowly (some people heat the milk before adding it; I don't), whisking it in until smooth, do not boil. Add dried mustard & S&P. Slowly add most of the cheese, bit by bit, whisking smooth and cooking until thickened, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Combine the cheese sauce and the macaroni and pour it into the buttered baking dish. Top with remaining cheese and the grated Parmigiana Reggiano, and then top that with a light layer of panko. Dot with butter. Bake until cheese is golden and bubbly, 30 to 45 minutes, depending on your oven. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

The key is a very good béchamel sauce

Forgot to add nutmeg. Some nutmeg takes it up a level.

Will do, Otis.

Martini, I'd never heard of hosepipe macaroni (or long macaroni) until someone mentioned it here, right before Thanksgiving. Saw it at Albertson's, but had already made the mac 'n cheese for Thanksgiving. Next time!

Btrtigerfan, I need to remember the nutmeg.

Once you add the cheese/bechamel to the noodles, bake in a hot cast iron skillet to get that yummy golden crust all around.

Also, adding fried baby leaf spinach just before baking really adds a nice flavor.

This recipe sounds really good. I especially like the idea of the bacon salt, but 5 tablespoons total seems really excessive for a dish with half a pound of pasta. Was that supposed to be teaspoons?

I had never thought to use buttermilk for the bechamel. The seasonings I use are dry mustard, nutmeg, white pepper, salt, and cayenne.

My other trick is to make sure I was the pasta thoroughly in cold water after I boil it. This removes surface starches that will make your cheese sauce taste grainy.

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I had never thought to use buttermilk for the bechamel.

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A happy accident. One time I didn't have enough milk for the recipe, but had buttermilk, so I combined them. The tang provided by the buttermilk was a great addition to the recipe. I used ALL buttermilk the last time I made it, and we all liked it very much.

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I like your idea of melting the butter and tossing the bread crumbs in it. Better than my method of topping with pats of butter, I think.

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I've always done that when I'm making a panko or bread crumb topping. Olive oil also works fine for this. The crumbs brown evenly and there are no "dry" spots with no fat on them.