A RETURN TO CHILDHOOD

Comfort food.  Is there anything quite like it?  We all have our personal favorites.  For some, it’s chicken and dumplings, for others it’s a bowl of chili on a cold evening.  Oprah Winfrey tells that her best comfort food is a bowl of mashed potatoes.  But most people agree that, by definition, comfort food means Baked Macaroni and Cheese!  I couldn’t agree more.  It certainly tops my comfort list.  Just seeing this on my table takes me back to being six years old again and seeing my mother bringing her cobalt blue casserole dish from the oven, steaming with ooey, gooey, cheesy macaroni!

COMFORT BAKED MAC ‘n CHEESE

Salt

2-1/2 cups milk (low-fat is fine)

2 bay leaves

1 pound elbow, shell, ziti, or other cut pasta

4 tablespoons (1/2stick) butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1-1/2 cups grated cheese, like sharp cheddar or Emmental

1 /2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2  cup or more bread crumbs, preferably fresh

Heat the oven to 400. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it.

Heat the milk with the bay leaves in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. When small bubbles appear along the sides, about 5 minutes later, turn off the heat and let stand. Cook the pasta in the boiling water to the point where you would still think it needed another minute or two to become tender. Drain it, rinse it quickly to stop the cooking, and put it in a large bowl.

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter; when it is foamy, add the flour and cook, stirring, until the mixture browns, about 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaves from the milk and add about 1/4cup of the milk to the hot flour mixture, stirring with a wire whisk all the while. As soon as the mixture becomes smooth, add a little more milk, and continue to do so until all the milk is used up and the mixture is thick and smooth. Add the cheddar or Emmental and stir.

Pour the sauce over the pasta, toss in the Parmesan, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Use the remaining 1 tablespoon butter to grease a 9 ×13-inch or like-size baking pan and turn the pasta mixture into it. (You can make the dish to this point, cover, and refrigerate for up to a day; return to room temperature before proceeding.) Top liberally with bread crumbs and bake until bubbling and the crumbs turn brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve piping hot.  Makes 4 to 6 servings.