Baked Mac & Cheese

It has been some time since my last food post and no, it wasn't because I have not been cooking. On the contrary, I have been cooking A LOT. Before any recipe is posted on Reflection of Sanity, it has been tried, tweaked, tested again and again and again. Posting a recipe makes me very nervous, what suits our pallet might not suit others and I hate for anyone to try a recipe from here and end up hating it and for the food go to waste.

I made Baked Mac & Cheese for the first time on little tyke's birthday and it proved to be a huge hit. As in why I decided to cook something new for a party is another story, I was feeling brave read stupid however the gamble paid off. Baked mac & cheese while easy, can sometimes turn out to be dry or just a blob of nastiness and thankfully this is nothing like that. It's creamy and will remain creamy when heated in the oven the next day.

This recipe has since been made numerous times by me and other family members so I hope you guys will enjoy it too.

Baked Mac & Cheese from the House of Platt to you....

Ingredients:

2 cups macaroni

A:

1/4 cup butter/margarine  

1/2 tsp dried mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 cup flour

1 3/4 cups milk (I used Almond Milk in the picture because I was trying to clear the fridge)

225g cheddar; shredded 

2 tbs butter/margarine; melted

3/4 cup Panko

Cooking method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 Celsius. 

2. Cook macaroni as per package instruction, drain and set aside.

3. In a pan cook 'A' and stir until smooth.

4. Remove from heat add milk, return to heat and let it boil for a minute.

5. Remove mixture from heat and add cheese. Stir until cheese melt.

6. Mix melted butter with Panko until coated well.

7. Mix cheese sauce with macaroni in a baking dish, sprinkle butter Panko on the top and bake for 30 minutes.

NOTES:

1. I usually use 1/4 tsp smoked paprika and 1/4 tsp paprika however I know not everyone like Smoked Paprika hence I stated 'Paprika' in the recipe.

2. Make sure to melt cheese into milk WITHOUT heat. This will ensure a smooth cheese sauce instead of grainy.

Sorry for the terrible picture, I had to quickly snap one before someone stabbed me with a fork...