My go-to recipe for Mac and Cheese has been James Beard’s from his Beard on Pasta recipe book. As good as it is, I always felt that it lacked the sharp kick that I wanted from the cheese. Eventually, I made a few alterations, the major one being the addition of one-quarter pound of a sharp blue cheese to the sauce. I’ve been happy with my Sharp Macaroni and Cheese recipe ever since, and guests always rave about it. Sharp Macaroni and Cheese is so easy to make, and beats out boxed or frozen varieties by miles.
Melt the butter in a heavy casserole. Whisk in the flour and continue to cook the roux over low heat for several minutes, without letting the butter brown.
Cook the roux.
At the same time, scald the milk with some salt. All at one time, whisk the milk into the flour mixture.
Add the milk.
Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Lower the heat, add a bay leaf, and let the Bechamel sauce simmer very gently for about 20 minutes, whisking occasionally.
In the meantime, grate the the two cheeses. (I like to do this quickly with the shredding disk in a food processor. It takes less than a minute. It’s a lot of cheese to grate by hand.)
Grate the cheese.
The major cheese that I use is McCadam’s Extra Sharp Cheddar because it seems to deliver the most flavor of any cheddar I’ve tried, and it’s quite reasonably priced.
McCadam Extra Sharp Cheddar.
For the blue cheese, I chose Shropshire Blue, a United Kingdom cheese made from pasteurized cows’ milk, with a sharp, strong flavor.
Shropshire Blue cheese.
If you can’t find Shropshire Blue, I recommend substituting Stilton, though any strong, fairly hard blue cheese will do. The Shropshire Blue doesn’t grate well unless it’s very hard, so you may need to crumble it before melting it in the sauce.
Add some Tabasco and black pepper. As Beard advises, do not be afraid of the Tabasco because it gives the dish a real zing. Beard uses crème fraîche in the sauce, giving it a wonderful taste and a very unctuously creamy texture. You can substitute heavy cream, but I believe much is sacrificed in doing so.
If you can’t find crème fraîche at your superarket, you can easily make your own by combining 1 cup of heavy cream with 2 tablespoons of cultured buttermilk in a tight-lidded jar. Shake the jar vigorously for a couple minutes, then allow it to stand at room temperature for about 24 hours. After that, refrigerate until chilled.
Add the crème fraîche or heavy cream, and simmer for several more minutes. Taste for seasoning.
Stir in the crème fraîche.
Add all the blue cheese and 3⁄4 of the Cheddar to the simmering sauce, and whisk until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth.
Fold in the cheeses.
Taste again for seasoning.
Preheat the oven to 350°.
In the meantime, cook the macaroni until barely al dente. Remove the bay leaf from the sauce. Stir the drained macaroni immediately into the hot sauce.
Mix the pasta with the sauce.
Pour the Sharp Macaroni and Cheese into a large heavy baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining Cheddar cheese on top.
Top with the remaining cheddar.
Bake until the macaroni begins to bubble. If you like a browned crust, place under a broiler for a minute or two.
If you don’t plan to eat the entire dish in one sitting, you should bake only what you need, refrigerating the rest. It reheats quite well. When it comes out of the refrigerator, it solidifies into a hard block. Use a very heavy spoon to dish out what you need. Add a little bit of heavy cream or milk to moisten and soften it a bit before you heat it in the oven.
I like to serve Sharp Macaroni and Cheese with broccoli. It makes a nice vegetarian dinner.
