Fannie Farmer's Mac and Cheese Updated Recipe
From the 40s, her delicious recipe for mac and cheese.
Take the time to buy block cheese and shred it yourself, as pre-shredded cheese has preservatives in it to keep it from clumping together. Your melted cheese will be much creamier, if you use the block type.
Ingredients
- 16 oz. package macaroni or other pasta, cooked al dente in lightly salted water
- 6 tbs. butter
- 6 tbs. flour
- 3 cups half and half, room temp
- scant tsp. salt
- optional, pepper
- 3 cups shredded cheese
- optional: Tabasco, tsp. Colman's dry mustard
- topping; 3/4 crushed buttered saltines or buttered breadcrumbs
Directions
- Heat oven to 375 F.
- Cook pasta al dente, rinse in cold water, place on paper towels to dry.
- Melt butter in a saucepot (medium heat), stir in flour. Turn down, simmer over lowest heat for 5 minutes, stir constantly.
- Slowly add half and half, stirring constantly. Let this process take several minutes, as what you want to do is let the starch cook off, so the cheese sauce doesn't have a flour flavor and texture.
- Let mixture cook over lowest heat for 8-10 minutes.
- Remove from heat, stir in cheese, salt, pepper.
- Pour into a 2 qt. baking dish.
- Sprinkle on topping, bake about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
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Nutrition Facts
| Amount Per Serving | %DV |
|---|---|
| Serving Size 276g | |
| Recipe makes 6 servings | |
| Calories 796 | |
| Calories from Fat 398 | 50% |
| Total Fat 45.37g | 57% |
| Saturated Fat 28.1g | 112% |
| Trans Fat 0.0g | |
| Cholesterol 135mg | 45% |
| Sodium 875mg | 36% |
| Potassium 393mg | 11% |
| Total Carbs 68.35g | 18% |
| Dietary Fiber 2.6g | 9% |
| Sugars 2.54g | 2% |
| Protein 28.44g | 46% |
