->Macaroni Cheese 15 <-

4 cups macaroni, cooked and drained

2 tablespoons plain flour

2 tablespoons butter

1 pint full cream milk

1 cup cream

1/2 lb cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 tsp mustard powder

salt & pepper

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and stir in the flour. Stir

about for a while to cook the flour. Add the milk little by little,

stirring like crazy, to make like a white sauce. Let it thicken.

(Keep stirring. You will get tired. Persevere.) Add the cheese a

little at a time, reserving a handful. Add the mustard powder and test for seasoning - I like a lot of pepper in mine (seems to set

off the cheese well). When the sauce is thick and cheesy and goopy,

dump in the drained macaroni and mix it all well together. Pour

into a buttered casserole dish, sprinkle a thick layer of grated

cheese over the top and bake in a hottish oven for half and hour

or so. Brown the cheese under the grill if it's not goldeny when

you take it out.

(Basically there should be enough macaroni so that the pasta doesn't

swim in the sauce, but that it's generously covered). Don't worry

if the sauce seems very thick, it thins somewhat when combined with

wet pasta and baked :)

I also like to add stuff to this, make it a bit more interesting

- crispy bacon is good, also smoked jalapeno powder...