Super Macaroni & Cheese

The actual history of macaroni and cheese is not really known, although Italy may have a strong claim to being the originator, with its long time use of pasta and cheese, but that's just my opinion. Certainly some Italian dishes were taken to France where they were then adopted into French cuisine. American Thomas Jefferson liked macaroni and cheese, and I suppose we owe him some degree of gratitude for "popularizing" the dish, as he even served macaroni and cheese when he was president, although "apparently" it was seen as a type of pasta casserole in those times, and it was not actually called by the name "Macaroni and Cheese." It is a VERY common dish with Americans, and dry packaged forms have been around for decades. It is not uncommon to see packages of macaroni and cheese included in many food drives to help needy people.    

This is NOT low fat or a diet food or for anyone with partially clogged arteries, because if you eat this once a week for a couple of months, your arteries won't be partially clogged anymore, this dish will finish the job, although you might well die with a smile on your face. So eat it only on occasion. Macaroni and cheese is a dish that is best eaten right after it's prepared. Once it's refrigerated, it loses its creaminess. You can make things better by reheating it over low heat with some milk and give it a stir often. Over time I've made this when I've used more flour, less flour, no flour and Mayflower ... oh wait, that's the name of a ship... pilgrim! (My John Wayne impression) I prefer the less flour version, although if you cook the mixture long enough without flour, it can thicken greatly. Please don't be afraid of blue cheese. I know it can be rather strong when eaten on salads or on its own, but it gives the cheese sauce that forms for this dish a nice flavor, and it's not strong. I'm a big fan of blue cheeses and I often have Gorgonzola (picante), Roquefort, or other blue cheeses just along with some fruit or bread.  

Ingredients:

2 cups dried macaroni
1 can evaporated milk (12 ounces)
1 cup heavy cream
1 to 2 tablespoons butter
1 to 2 tablespoons flour (or you can leave it out)
1 cup sharp yellow cheddar, shredded (or sharp white cheddar)
1 cup Monterey Jack, shredded
1 cup Muenster cheese, shredded
1/3 cup blue cheese, in small pieces/chunks
(Optional) breadcrumbs sauteed in butter w/some white pepper

Cook the macaroni per the instructions of the brand of macaroni you use, but remove it from the heat a minute or two before the recommended cooking time (it is going to cook more in the oven). Drain the pasta well and leave it for a few minutes until you are ready to bake it. While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium heat. If using flour, add it to the pan and keep stirring to form a roux, and it's okay if it just begins to brown a little. Mix the milk and cream together and add the dairy mixture slowly if you're using flour, and keep stirring or whisking to let the liquid thicken a bit from the roux (you don't have to have this like you're making cement for a new sidewalk, just a little thickened, although a number of years ago I used much more flour. You should see how well my sidewalk has held up over the years too, and people love the macaroni design in it). Hahaha! If you aren't using flour, just add the milk and cream to the melted butter and let them heat up. Add the shredded cheeses a little at a time, stirring to get them on their way to melting. (NOTE: Keep a little bit of the cheeses, except the blue cheese, to top off the mac and cheese before putting it into the oven.) Keep the heat low, even very low. The sauce will thicken some more from the cheese, dairy mixture and the roux. I let this very gently cook, no lid, for about 10 to 12 minutes, stirring often. If you want to top the macaroni with breadcrumbs, melt some butter in a skillet, then add some breadcrumbs and sprinkle them with some white pepper. Let the breadcrumbs lightly brown. Butter or oil a casserole dish. Add the drained and cooked macaroni to the cheese sauce and mix everything together well. Pour the macaroni and sauce into the casserole, smooth out the top and sprinkle over the reserved shredded cheeses. Bake at 350 F for 35 to 45 minutes, until bubbly and browned. Optional, sprinkle each serving with the toasted breadcrumbs.    

WORD HISTORY:
Coagulate-This word is related to "cogent," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from Latin-based French, and to "agenda," a word borrowed from Latin, and it is more distantly related to "act," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from both Latin and French. "Coagulate" is actually a prefixed word, with the beginning coming from the prefix "com," which goes back to Indo European "kom" which had the notion "by, with, near, beside." This gave Latin "com" and its variant form "con," meaning "together, with." The main part of the word goes back to Indo European "ag/eg/ak," which had the notion of "to drive, to drive forth, to move, to put into motion;" thus also, "to do, to make." This gave Latin the verb "agere," with the same Indo European meanings. The two parts together gave Latin "cogere," meaning, "to curdle" (pretty much literally, "to drive or move together"). This produced Latin "coagulare," meaning, "to cause to come together and curdle." English borrowed the word in the first part of the 1400s more so from the Latin verb's participle form, "coagulatus," and with the same meaning as in Latin: "to cause liquid to form into a thick mass, to clot, to gel, to curdle." By the way, the Latin noun form "coagulum" means "rennet;" that is, "an enzyme that causes liquid to thicken and curdle."