Cheesus H. Christ!

Often, I get a wild idea in my head that I should try making something from scratch and then set out on a search of the web and the cookbook collection I have to find it. Usually, it's some convenience food that comes in a box or can that seems somehow wasteful or frivolous, but sometimes, it's a major undertaking. For example, today I made Lasagna from scratch. That entailed making tomato sauce, making sausage (I used ground beef and a turkey thigh plus spices and bacon fat), and making the pasta from flour and eggs. It pretty much took the better part of the day, but it came out good. Lots of left-overs in the freezer as well (about three dinners worth).

Recently, though, I turned my mind to a classic staple that is a major component of most kids diets. To wit, Mac & cheese. I have two boys (6 and 8) who would eat nothing but mac and cheese for every lunch and dinner. There's the Kraft stuff in a cardboard box, and since I'm cheep, I generally get the store brand by the cartload, but I feel like a slack-assed parent whenever I dump that crap into the pot for the boys.

I made up my mind the other day to try to make it from scratch. My first attempt was a disaster. You can't derive a recipe by reading the ingredients list on the box. that's all I'm gonna say about that. For those of you who read my blog (all 1 of you), you may remember my post on pancakes. You may recall that it was shockingly easy to make them. Well, the same is true for mac and cheese. In fact, you have all of the ingredients in the house right now. I bet you really do.

You will need

Some pasta (I use penne, but elbow macaroni would make the kids feel better, I suppose). I don't know how much it takes to fill two soup bowls, but that's how I measured it out for the boys. Of course, it'll be more once it's cooked, but the extra is good in case one or both of the kids want seconds.
3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp flour (all purpose)
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup grated cheese (cheddar works for me, but you could really use almost anything)
Some salt (to taste)


Get a pot of water on for the pasta and get that cooking as soon as you can, Get another pot (or pan) with the milk in it, and start heating that up. Don't bring the milk to a boil, just get it hot. Once it's hot, pour it back into the measuring cup and then melt the butter in that pan. Once it's starting to get all liquid-y, then sprinkle in the flour and stir that into the butter. You want to cook the flour in the butter (this is called a "roux", just in case you didn't know), but not so much that it starts to turn brown. Once the flour and butter are pretty much done, add the hot milk. It will foam a bit and thicken nicely as you continue to stir it on the heat. Now start stirring in the grated cheese. It will now start to look like real cheese sauce. Taste it and add salt (it will need it).

By now, the pasta is cooked. Drain it and then put it back in the pot and pour the cheese sauce on it. Stir and serve to a very appreciative child (or grown-up).

You see how fucking easy that is? Don't you feel silly for buying the boxes? I don't think this takes any more time or effort than the instant stuff, though it's probably a close call as to which one would be cheaper.