Baked Macaroni and Cheese

You may be seeing a lot of recipes popping up between today and tomorrow morning, I have a few side dishes and desserts that I want to post on here.

I've been in the kitchen pretty much all day, getting things ready for Thanksgiving.  Obviously there are certain dishes that won't be made until the morning but some of the side dishes and desserts I make the day before, saves me a whole lot of time in the kitchen.

First I'm starting with Baked Macaroni and Cheese, there's so many recipes out there but I usually turn to this one which came from Alton Brown from Food Network.  My kids LOVE it.

Note:  I made a big pan for Thanksgiving and then a smaller one for dinner.  I didn't add the panko crust topping to this one though, so that is missing from these pics.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Credit: Alton Brown

Ingredients

* 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 3 tablespoons flour
* 1 tablespoon powdered mustard
* 3 cups milk
* 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
* 1 bay leaf
* 1/2 teaspoon paprika
* 1 large egg
* 12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* Fresh black pepper

Topping:

* 3 tablespoons butter
* 1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.