Simply Authentic...Your Soul Voice is Calling. My Special Mac & Cheese Recipe

My Special Mac & Cheese Recipe Here’s a gift from COMFORT FOOD FROM THE HEARTLAND: Recipes from a South Dakota Farmer’s Daughter, my first (and probably only) upcoming cookbook! Writing this cookbook has been an amazingly fun and creative process, especially since I teamed up with Dana Fontaine (http://www.danafontaine.com/) for the photography sessions. Dana and I have gone on quite a food photography journey together, and I’ve spent hours making grocery lists, purchasing the groceries, cooking, and doing dishes! I personally created each dish to photograph – nothing is faked. Near the end of our third and final photography session, hunger set in and it was important we ate the subject matter. Dana loved this dish so much she asked for the recipe so she could make it for dinner that night. Very gratifying, since this is a recipe I created myself using a jumble of things I found from other cooks and some ingredients I had on hand. It is perhaps even more amazing with crumbled bacon on top! Frickin’ Insane Macaroni and Cheese The first time I made this particular version of mac & cheese, my fiancé, George, labeled it “Frickin’ Insane”, it was so good. -Enough cooked, al dente, and drained elbow macaroni for approximately 3 C pasta Grate cheese (do not buy pre-grated, except for maybe the parmesan) approximately (be generous): -2 C sharp cheddar -3/4 C gouda, a third of a round -1/3 C gruyere -2 TBSP parmesan Melt 2-3 TBSP butter in large pan and rapidly whisk in enough flour (somewhat less than the butter) to make the base of a white sauce, fairly thick and bubbly. Slowly add one pint (small carton) half and half, whisking rapidly, and cook ‘til fairly thick. Add hot sauce (I use Tabasco) and Dijon mustard and a little freshly ground salt and pepper to taste. Add the cheese and stir fairly often until all melted. Mix the pasta and cheese sauce together in a large mixing bowl. Transfer to a 2 ½ quart greased casserole pan and top with a few TBSP panko style bread crumbs with salt, pepper, and dried parsley mixed in. *Optional: Add crumbled, cooked bacon to whole dish or individual servings after baking. Bake, covered, at 350 for approximately 30 minutes. Authentically Yours, Laura