Monday, July 28, 2014

Nannie's Mac and Cheese

Every Sunday at my Nannie's, we always have fried chicken and lots of veggies. Some change from week to week but we ALWAYS have macaroni and cheese..its everyone's favorite. The first time I made it was one of my greatest accomplishments in the kitchen.
Nannie has always had these blue stirring spoons that her sister would bring back from where she lived in Mexico, and I always loved them when I was a kid. Nannie cooks everything with them. When I got my own kitchen, she gave me three of my own! My copy of this recipe had the flour measured in "blue spoon" increments, so I had to figure out how "blue spoons" convert to cups:)

Ingredients
1/3 cup of all purpose flour
3-4 tbsp butter
1 cup macaroni
1 1/2 cups of Velveeta (cut up into small cubes)
2 cups milk (you probably won't need that entire amount, add slowly)

First, cook the cup of macaroni. While it is boiling, melt butter in the pot. Then stir in flour with a fork or a whisk until its combined. It will kind of look like a paste. I couldn't believe that little amount of butter could hold all that flour but it does. Kitchen science magic that I don't need to understand. Wait about 30 seconds, then add the Velveeta (its about 1/3 of the block if you don't want to measure) and milk. Whisk together until lumps are gone, over medium low heat. Let stand for two minutes to thicken (it will thicken even more in the oven). Then add pasta and stir.
Put in an oven safe dish and bake on 375 for 7-9 minutes or until the top gets a little golden brown, whichever you want. Mine never seems to get brown, but you can tell it that it's starting to thicken up a lot on the top. That's when it's done!

What do have you successfully replicated of your mom or grandmother that makes you feel like you've just won a James Beard award?

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