Macaroni and Cheese

One of the best things to eat in Pittsburgh, by far, is Kelly's Mac and Cheese. It's just the right amount of goo, crispiness, and pepper to make me willing to put up with their horrid, horrid service. Most recipes I found on the internet suggest poor ideas, like, "Just cook the pasta and put some cheese in there or whatever and maybe melt it all in an oven for a while." Doing that gives you a bland dish with a hint of something sticky in there (Cheese? Glue?). I got fed up and solicited a message board, and found this, a slightly modified version of an A-l-t-*-n B-r-*-w-n recipe.

Ingredients

* 1 pound uncooked elbow macaroni
* 6 tablespoons butter
* 6 tablespoons flour
* 2 tablespoon powdered mustard
* 6 cups milk
* 1 cup yellow onion, finely diced
* 2 bay leaf
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* 1 large egg
* 24 ounces extra sharp sharp cheddar, shredded
* 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese
* 2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
* Fresh black pepper

Topping:

* 6 tablespoons butter
* 2 cups panko bread crumbs
* 1/4 cup Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, nutmeg and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the eggs. Stir in 3/4 of the cheddar cheese and the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a lasagne dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for about 30 minutes (until the breadcrumbs brown). Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Five out of five stars for being an awesome dish. Not quite as gooey as Kelly's (maybe that's something to experiment with in the future), but still leagues better than any other mac and cheese I've ever made before. I can't wait to eat the leftovers for this.