Aviator Food

I tweeted today that I was looking forward to tonight's dinner menu, mentioning something about my wife's awesome baked macaroni and cheese. This, not surprisingly, brought about the flurry requests for my address and invitations to dinner. Why am I bothering to put this on an aviation-themed blog? Well, because it's my blog, and pilots gotta eat, too.

As expected, it was delicious. In fact, it was even better than I remember it. Eat your heart out, or better yet, make yourself some, and eat it all gone! Here's the recipe:

Macaroni Au Gratin

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ qt water
• 3 Tbs margarine
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• ½ C. flour
• ½ lb. macaroni
• 3 ½ C. milk
• 1 ½ C. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• Dash of salt
• Dash of white pepper

Cheese Topping:

• 1 TBS plus 1 tsp flour
• 1 TBS margarine, well chilled
• ½ tsp paprika
• ½ C. sharp cheddar, shredded

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Bring water and salt to a boil in a 3-quart saucepan. Add macaroni and cook until tender, approximately 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently.

To make sauce, melt the margarine in a 2-quart saucepan over low heat. Blend in flour and white pepper. Cook at least 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Slowly add milk, continuing to stir until sauce thickens. Add salt and shredded cheese. Stir just until cheese is melted. Remove from heat.

For the topping, mix the flour and paprika, then add margarine and shredded cheese just until texture is crumb-like.

To assemble, mix together macaroni with cheese sauce. Pour into a medium-size casserole. Sprinkle on the topping and bake until the crust begins to brown and the casserole in bubbling, approximately 45 minutes.