I hesitate to mess with Cook's Illustrated recipes out of respect for their rather obsessive attention to getting it just right, but I have adapted their Macaroni and Cheese recipe to our family's taste.
It is a change of the proportions of seasonings and the sauce to macaroni ratio.
My biggest innovation comes from my dislike of getting out the food processor to make the bread crumbs. I now make a triple batch and put the extra in a zip lock freezer bag so it is ready to go the next two times I make it.
Macaroni and Cheese (with 4 guys in the house, I usually double this recipe as seen in the photograph)
crumbs:
3-6 slices of white bread (I sometimes use Pita) and 3-4 Tablespoons cold butter, shredded in food processor
macaroni: 1 pound shells or elbows, cook until just past al dente stage
sauce: 3 1/2 T butter, melted, stir in 2 heaping teaspoons of dry mustard and 1/4 heaping teaspoon of cayenne pepper. stir in 1/4 cup flour and cook for a couple of minutes. gradually stir in 3 1/2 cups milk. cook until medium white sauce. stir in 2 1/2 cups of shredded cheese mixture of cheddar, jack, and colby. stir in some black pepper.
assembly: mix sauce and macaroni. put into broiler safe pan that has been sprayed with Pam. top with crumbs. put under broiler until toasted.
yummmmm
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