One Pot Mac n Cheese

AAAAACK! And I was doing so good at remembering to take pictures of stuff. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the one pot mac n cheese from White on Rice Couple.  Instead, please enjoy this picture of Calvin and Hobbs.

Aren't they a photogenic duo?  Certainly much better looking than any picture of macaroni and cheese that I could have taken.

In particular, this mac n' cheese was a lot lighter than any other mac and cheese recipe I've made thus far. In fact, it was so pale, one might even dare to call it white. I think this was due to the fact that the noodles are boiled in milk. That's right. Boiled in milk.

Boiling the noodles in milk is what makes this a "one pot" dish. While this dish certainly saved me a lot of time in clean up, I spent more than that time babysitting the noodles over the stove so the milk didn't burn or evaporate too quickly. Regular old boil the noodles in one pot and make the sauce in another from scratch mac and cheese is loads faster.

This macaroni and cheese was with out a doubt the creamiest mac I've ever made. We found it quite lacking in the taste department though. This could have been because I used half Colby jack and half extra sharp cheddar cheese. I think this dish needs a really strong cheese to make it worth your time. However, I know my audience and Blockette wouldn't eat more than three bites of a very sharp tasting cheese dish. It's hard enough to get her to eat mac that doesn't come out of the blue box.

Creamy One Pot Mac n'Cheese from White on Rice Couple
2 cups large elbow Macaroni, uncooked (about 1/2 lb)
2 cups low fat Milk (about 16 oz)
if needed, additional 1/4 cup milk or water for final cooking
1 tablespoon Butter
1/2 teaspoon Mustard powder
1 teaspoon Salt, plus additional for final season later
generous dash of Nutmeg
1 cup Grated Cheese, any one or combination of ( jack, cheddar, swiss, mozzarella, gouda, parmesan*, asiago*, pecorino*) *Hard cheeses are best combined with a secondary, softer, better melting cheese.
additional toppings: bacon bits, bread crumbs, chopped parsley, diced tomatoes (optional)
black pepper to taste (optional)

Place raw elbow macaroni in colander and quickly rinse under water. Let drain. In med pan (about 3.5 qt), add milk, raw elbow macaroni, salt, butter, mustard powder and nutmeg. On medium heat, slowly bring milk/macaroni mix to a simmer, stirring macaroni frequently as it comes up to a simmer. This will separate macaroni and keep them from sticking together. DO NOT LEAVE THE STOVE! The milk mix will come to a boil very quickly and leaving it unattended will leave a big mess on your stove stop. Once to a simmer, immediately turn heat to LOW. Macaroni will slowly cook in milk. Having the heat too high will evaporate the milk too quickly! Continue to stir frequently so macaroni will cook and absorb milk evenly. If you don’t stir   frequently, you will get a big clump of macaroni in the end! Stir, stir stir! Cook  15-20 min or til milk has been fully absorbed. If macaroni not cooked fully, add a little more milk or water ( in small amounts) til macaroni is fully cooked. This will take about another 5 min. When milk evaporated, stir in grated cheese. Turn off heat. Place lid on top of pan and cover for 5 min. This will allow macaroni to plump up and absorb excess milk. Before serving, stir one final time to mix everything together. Serve immediately. Feeds about 3-4 people.