Mac-n-Cheese Off: One of MBH's Major Food Groups

MBH grew up challenged in the food diversity category. For MBH's there are three major food groups: meat, green beans and macaroni and cheese. I blame his mother for this sad state of food affairs. When I first met MBH he warned me that he was a very picky eater and told me tales of how bad his mother cooked. I didn't believe any of it; that is until she sent us some cookies. MBH's stories of his mother's culinary exploits were not wrong and in fact did not do her cooking justice (just for the record, MBH's mother and I get along just fine!). MBH's limited favourite foods are a survival tactic. MBH has become a bit more adventurous over the past few years but when it comes to major comfort food, macaroni and cheese still reigns supreme.

So when I read that Kevin over at Seriously Good and CookieCrumb at I'm Mad and I Eat had invited food bloggers to post their recipes for mac and cheese on January 5, I knew I finally had a reason to post MBH's most favourite recipe in my repertoire.

My mac and cheese is simple and classic and there is nothing low fat about the dish. It is full of heavy cream, eggs, butter, and three types of cheese. The key is the final 10 minutes of the recipe: broil baby broil.



So without further ado...

MBH Mac-n-cheese

2 large eggs
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk (whole or 2%)
4 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2lb elbow macaroni
1/3lb shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/3lb shredded cheddar cheese
1/3lb shredded monterey jack cheese
1 cup additional shredded cheese, reserved for last 10 minutes of cooking
(take your pick of type, we use the sharp cheddar in our house)
1 1/2 cups buttered bread crumbs (optional)

Preheat oven at 375 degrees. Mix eggs, dry mustard, heavy cream, and milk in a bowl and set aside. Cook macaroni to al dente and drain. Put butter in macaroni pan and put macaroni back into pan and stir until butter coats the macaroni. Over very low heat, add milk, heavy cream, mustard and egg mixture and stir in cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Place macaroni and cheese into prepared 2 quart casserole dish. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and turn oven broiler on. Sprinkle top of baked mac and cheese with the reserved cheese and broil until cheese is all gooey. If using the bread crumbs, sprinkle them on for last 3-5 minutes to brown.
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