Macaroni Cheese with Bacon
What's your own personal definition of Comfort Food? You know, the kind of thing you can whip up in the space of half an hour which sticks to your ribs and fills you up with a sense of warm contentment for the rest of the day.
For me, it's Macaroni Cheese. I will swear to my dying day that my American mother makes the best Macaroni Cheese known to man (I've spent YEARS attempting to figure out what her secret ingredient is. I think it's Garlic Powder, but I'm loath to put her in a headlock to get her to spill the beans), but then again I might be biased because, after all, she is my mother-and doesn't everyone have a least one dish in their repertoire that they wish that they could make as well as their dear old Mum?
Anyway, this is brilliant because it manages to contain three of the vital components than everyone requires in their daily diet, i.e. Carbs, Cheese and BACON. If you're a Vegetarian, the dish is just as tasty without the pork garnish, but being a filthy meat eater, I believe it adds a certain je ne sais quois to the dish. Enjoy!
1 Picture
Ingredients
- For the cheese sauce
- 750 ml/1pint 7fl oz milk
- 50 g/2oz unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the dish
- 50 g/2oz plain flour
- 1 bay leaf
- 175 g/6oz strong Cheddar Cheese
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
- For the rest
- 300 g/10½oz macaroni
- 4 Bacon rashers
Details
Servings 2
Preparation
Step 1
1) Heat your oven to Gas Mark 7
2) Boil your macaroni for around 10 minutes.
3) Whilst all that is going on, make the sauce. Using hot milk to make a white sauce helps to stop it going lumpy, so start by heating your milk in a medium saucepan until it is hot, but not quite boiling. Pour the hot milk into a jug and keep it standing by.
4) Now put the butter in the medium saucepan and melt it over a low heat. As soon as it has melted, tip in the flour. Turn up the heat a little. Stir the flour and butter with a wooden spoon to make a thick paste called a (La) roux. You need to cook this roux a little or you will end up with a floury-tasting sauce, so keep stirring it for a minute or two while it sizzles gently.
5) Pour in about a quarter of the hot milk and stir it carefully into the roux. Swap the wooden spoon for a whisk and you will find it much easier to blend in the milk. Gradually add the rest of the milk and keep whisking gently until it is all thoroughly mixed in. Add the bay leaf. Bring the sauce to the boil and then turn the heat down to low. Let the sauce gently simmer for about five minutes. Stir every minute or so just to stop it catching on the bottom of the pan. Meanwhile, grate your cheese, before greasing a large ovenproof dish (about 22cm square) with plenty of butter.
6) Season the sauce very well with a good grinding of black pepper, a generous grinding of salt and the cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Add the grated cheddar cheese to the sauce and stir well.
7) Your macaroni should be cooked by now, so drain it before adding it to the cheese sauce. Be sure to stir it together well until it's all thoroughly combined. Pour the cheesy macaroni into the ovenproof dish. Spread evenly and sprinkle it some leftover grated cheddar.
8) Wearing oven gloves, place the dish in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until the cheese on top has turned golden brown and the sauce is bubbling.
9) Meanwhile, grill or fry the bacon rashers until they are nice and crispy.
10) Serve the macaroni cheese right away, with the bacon rashers on top.
A word of warning. Make sure you're close to a bed after you've eaten this. Macaroni Cheese with Bacon has been known to have an instant-and very effective-sophoric effect. Sweet Dreams and Happy Eating!
Review this recipe