Macaroni and Cheese If You Please

Macaroni and cheese will always be my favorite comfort food. It's cheesy, carbs, gooey, carbs, delicious and of course carbs. It also reminds me of my oldest sister, Danielle ("sissy"). I lived with Danielle, her husband Andrew and their two (now three) children when I first moved out at 18. 

It was a wonderful experience because she and I evolved our relationship from two siblings who acknowledged each other's existence on birthdays and Christmas to best friends. I loved living with my boys (even if they sometimes drove me insane when they'd eat my food or didn't clean up) but I will never forget the 3 months during which I lived with them. My brother-in-law and my sissy will forever be two people I intensely admire not to mention two of my closest friends.

Now what do all these warm-fuzzies have to do with macaroni? Well, my recipe is an adaptation of my Sissy's and tonight we shall eat it in her honor. 

Macaroni and Cheese 

1 pound pasta (I like penne because the tubes just soak up all the great cheesy goodness)

3 Tbsp butter

1/2 tbsp salt

1 tbsp pepper

1/2 tbsp garlic powder 

1/2 tbsp onion powder 

1/2 tbsp cayenne 

1 1/2 C milk

1 C beer (I used High Life because it's "the Champagne of Beers")

3 cups cheese, grated (Cheddar is always my favorite but we've used Gouda and swiss too. When in doubt add more cheese)

4 slices bacon, fried

1/4 C Italian bread crumbs

I like using one pot for cooking. Less cleanup and more workspace so I decided to use my nifty 6 Quart Martha Stewart Dutch oven (thanks Martha!)

Boil pasta, drain and rinse pasta with cool water and set aside (or if you're doing one pot cooking leave the pasta in the colander in the sink). 

Preheat oven to 375. 

Melt butter over medium heat; add in flour and salt. Stir constantly over medium heat for 3 minutes. 

Stir in milk and beer. Whisk briskly over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until sauce thickens. 

Remove from heat, stir in 2 cups of cheese until melted and blended and if you're like us and have a bacon obsession, add the chopped bacon now. Add noodles to sauce and stir to combine. 

Smooth the top of the macaroni and cheese into one layer. Sprinkle the top with remaining cheese and bread crumbs. Bake for 25 minutes (with 3 minutes under the broiler). 

Enjoy this magic macaroni and cheese, readers!