finally nailed macaroni and cheese

two pounds pasta, your choice, i used maffado, i think.
two pounds kraft natural cheese.
half a pound shredded sharp cheddar
butter
flour
bread crumbs, your choice, i used buttered panko
A small glass less than a half gallon of skim milk.

put water on to boil. salt it, please.

milk into its own pot. stir occasionally on medium heat. when tiny bubbles appear, begin cooking equal parts butter and flour mashed together first. let it get to caramel, and then add it to the milk. silicone-coated tongs are great for scraping the roux into your milk.

whisk like a motherfucker.

once the thickening begins and the sauce comes back to heat, start adding the cheese, a handful at a time, whisking until you don't feel the lumps of cheese anymore, then you add more cheese.

to add the cheese wtihout burning yourself (which i did three times before figuring this out) drop it from as low as possible onto the whisk. or be a wuss and use a silpat, you lamer.

burning myself frequently is the name of this blog for a reason.

anyway, once the sauce is all cheesified, taste it, do the napé test (dip a spoon in the sauce, look at the back, then draw a line through the sauce with your finger. if the line stays clear, it's thick enough)

By now your pasta should be done. Cook it al dente, and salt and pepper it aggressively. Place into the eventual cooking vessel. I used my bitch-ass Martha Stewart cast-iron enamel. Blue, like the one Rick Bayless used on his show this morning.

Once the sauce is both thick and tasting the way you want it to, scratter the shredded cheese in the pasta by hand, then add the sauce. quick stir to combine, then top with buttered breadcrumbs and into a  350 oven for  minutes.

It needed 15 more minutes. But it was yummy. Photos on my cell, you know the odds of those actually getting uploaded.

(slim to none)