Whip it Up Challenge-Baked Macaroni and Cheese

This week's Whip it Up theme was "Healthy" and as you can tell from the title of this post, my recipe was NOT healthy. But I really wanted to make it. Well....I used 2% (reduced fat) evaporated milk. Does that make it healthy? HealthIER...definitely not healthy.

This week I used a recipe from a friend of the family that I had in my recipe binder. What is a recipe binder you ask? Well, a few years ago, I took my mom's whole shoebox of recipe cards, and folded paper, and paper scraps of recipes and typed them all out and put them nice organized binders for both of us. It was quite the cumbersome project. I LOVE my recipe binder. They are all tabbed and and in page protectors and it is very easy to use. Mom....well...she mostly still uses her shoebox. =)

Lisa’s Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:
2 lg eggs
1 12oz can evaporated milk
¼ t hot red pepper sauce
2 t salt
¼ t ground black pepper
1 t dry mustard dissolved in 1 t water
½ lb elbow macaroni
4 t unsalted butter
12 oz cheese (sharp Wisc. cheddar, American, or Mont. jack) grated (3 c)

Topping:
1 c fresh bread crumbs (from French or Italian bread)
pinch salt
1 ½ T melted, unsalted butter

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 º
Mix bread crumb ingredients together in small baking pan
Bake until golden brown and crisp (15-20 min)
Set aside

Mix eggs, 1 c evaporated milk, pepper sauce, ½ t salt, pepper and mustard mixture in small bowl (set aside)

Boil 2 Q water, add 1 ½ t salt, cook mac until almost done

Pour egg mix over buttered noodles and stir in ¾ of the cheese
Stir until melted
Gradually add remaining milk and cheese
Stirring constantly until its hot and creamy (about 5 minutes)

Serve immediately (topped with toasted bread crumbs)

Baked Version:
(can be made up to 8 hours ahead, but must be re-heated over very low heat, adding extra milk if necessary)

Heat 2 T butter in large skillet
Add 1 C lightly packed, soft fresh bread crumbs, add salt to taste

Adjust oven rack 6 inch from element heat broiler
Follow recipe as above, but mix ¼ c grated cheese in with bread crumbs

Pour cooked noodles into 9” pan
Spread crumbs on top
Broil until crumbs turn brown


1. Was the recipe easy to follow?
Actually...not so much. I don't think the various steps were very well explained, especially for the baked section. I will probably rewrite it. Or maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention.

2. Did the dish taste good?
It was very good! And cheesy!

3. Would you make it again?
I definitely will!

4. Leftover quotient?
Quite a bit is leftover. Although I love mac and cheese, you can only eat so much in one setting. We also had chicken and corn to go with it, so there are several servings left.

5. Any additions/edits to the recipe?
-I (of course) added more cheese than I was supposed to. I used a combo of Monterrey Jack, Colby Jack, Sharp Cheddar, and some leftover fresh grated Parmesan.
-If you do the baked version, use 1/2 the bread crumbs! It was WAY too bread crumby. I scrapped the rest off before I put the leftovers in the fridge.
-Watch it very carefully when you are broiling it because...as you can see...I didn't.
-I didn't use hot sauce.
-I didn't use fresh bread crumbs


6. Adam's thoughts?
He approves! Also, he wasn't as bothered by the overabundance of bread crumbs as much as I was.