Mozilla is surprisingly good. I mean, wow. I expected it to still totally suck. Mind you, don't download the (AOL Time Warner) Netscape version. Not because I have a bias against that media conglomerate (which I do), but because there are irritating things about it that justify why I have a bias against that media conglomerate. For example, in the Netscape-branded version, you cannot disable javascript popups. When you install it, you also get these irritating "Free AOL and Unlimited Internet" shortcuts all over the place. And they demand you get a Netscape user id. So get Mozilla instead: same great taste, a whole hell of a lot less of a pain in the ass.

This weekend I made this recipe:

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for dish

• 6 slices good white bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/4- to1/2-inch pieces

  I used some bad HEB baguette that I bought to see if La Madeleine baguettes were worth the extra $0.80. They were. So I heated up the baguette in my toaster oven and threw it into my food processor to make many small crispy crumbs instead of the softer, larger pieces specified above. I think you should go my way. Is better.

• 5 1/2cups milk

  I used soy milk. Worked fine.

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons salt

  You'll probably want to put more on after it's done.

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

  Make that a slightly heaping 1/4 teaspoon. Don't be too approximate with this, though, because that's close to perfect.

• 4 1/2cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese (about 18 ounces)

  I have strong feelings on cheddar. It must be white. Maybe a little yellow. Definitely not orange. That's not natural. The only sharp cheddar I could find was Vermont Cabot block cheese, which I happily grated myself (realizing with a "doh" when I finished that I could have used the food processor).

• 2cups grated Gruyére cheese (about 8 ounces) or 1 1/4 cups grated Pecorino Romano cheese (about 5 ounces)

  I used the Romano cheese. Buy the block in your supermarket's fancy, expensive-as-hell cheese section.

• 1pound elbow macaroni

1. Heat the oven to 375°. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside. Place bread in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Pour butter into the bowl with bread, and toss. Set bread crumbs aside.

   I didn't have enough melted butter, so I put in a couple teaspoons of olive oil. Didn't seem to hurt.

2. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk. Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour. Cook, whisking, 1 minute.
3. While whisking, slowly pour in hot milk. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick.
4. Remove pan from heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar cheese, and 1 1/2 cups Gruyére or 1 cup Pecorino Romano; set cheese sauce aside.
5. Fill a large saucepan with water; bring to a boil. Add macaroni; cook 2 to 3 minutes less than manufacturer's directions, until the outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone. (Different brands of macaroni cook at different rates; be sure to read the instructions.) Transfer macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Stir macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce

6. Pour mixture into prepared dish. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup Gruyére or 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano, and bread crumbs over top. Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool 5 minutes; serve hot.

   Ok, so don't do it this way unless you're going to feed like 8 people immediately. This might not sound like a lot, but this is heavy. I've got about 40% of it left after about 5 servings. And you don't want to leave this sitting around because it gets soggy. It's ok if you bake it warm again, but most definitely don't microwave it. Instead, do this: get a 1 quart container and put in a third of the macaroni. Ideally your 1 quart container will be fairly shallow (~2"). That way when you spread the remaining cheeses and breadcrumbs over the top, they get distributed well. I made this in a deep, round dish. It came out well, but it would have been better in a shallower and wider dish of the sort that I do not have. Anyway, refrigerate the remaining 2/3 of the mix. Try to just bake it as necessary. You do all this, and you'll have a macaroni and cheese that tastes so good, you'll call up your state attorney to fine Kraft millions for false advertising. What they make is not macaroni and cheese. I mean, going from the box, you'd think they'd make it with cheese, and not crap. And yet. Theirs sucks. Make this. It's easy. It's better.

¶ 304 Posted at 12.39 AM ⇒ No Comments ( food | internet | geek )