Sharp and Spicy Mac and Cheese

Serves 12 (can easily be cut in half)

6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup flour
5 1/2 cups milk
5 cups sharp white cheddar, grated
1/2 cup pepper jack, grated
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 pound elbow macaroni

Baked method:
a bit of butter for the pan
AND
1/2 cup Panko breading
OR
2 tablespoons butter, melted
6 slices of white bread, cubed (you may want to cut crusts off as well)
- melt the butter in a large bowl then stir in the cubed bread.

If you're going to bake it, then preheat your oven to 375° and butter a 3 quart casserole dish. Put a large pan of salted water on to boil for the pasta. Pour the milk into a large sauce pan and put it over medium/low heat, it should be slowly heating up while you're dealing with the roux. If you're new to heating milk you will probably be tempted to turn up the heat, but you should resist. Milk will burn fairly easily and then you're out a quart and a half of milk because there's no coming back from that. Once you burn the milk the flavor will take over everything else.

Melt the 6 tablespoons of butter in another large sauce pan over medium heat. Pay close attention when the butter starts to bubble and keep your whisk and the flour handy because the next step will seem to take forever to get started, but once it does your window of opportunity for flavor perfection closes fast! Again, resist the temptation to turn up the heat. Butter is super-fragile and if your pan is too hot it will skip right past the delicious nutty flavor of brown and go directly (and quickly) to the bitterness of black. The butter will go from melted to bubbling, then it will bubble for a bit (this is the part that takes forever) before it starts to foam. The foam will rise and fall fairly quickly, and you want to be extra vigilant about burning during this step. When the foam falls you should have a nice, rich, brown liquid and that's when you should remove it from the heat and whisk in your flour.

Once your flour is completely integrated with the butter return the pan to the burner and start whisking in the warm milk, a cup or so at a time. Add a bit of milk, whisk until smooth, repeat until all of the milk is added. Bring the sauce up to just under a boil, stirring constantly, then start adding cheese. Again, a cup or so at a time; add cheese, whisk until smooth, repeat until all the cheese is added then turn the heat to low.

Now is a good time to put the pasta into the boiling water. If you're going to bake your mac and cheese then you don't want to cook it all the way through, just until the outside is done but it's still crunchy in the middle.

While your pasta is cooking you can perfect the spicing in your cheese sauce. Begin by adding the nutmeg and the salt, then stir in the pepper and cayenne. Give it a taste and adjust as you see fit. When you have the flavor the way you like it turn the heat off and wait for your pasta to finish. Once your noodles are done to perfection drain them and add them to the cheese sauce. If you're not going to bake it then you're ready to serve, or you can put it in a crock pot and take it to a party.

If you are going to bake it then pour everything into the casserole dish and top with either the Panko or the bread and butter mixture and slide it into the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, until topping is brown and cheese is bubbly, then let it cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe by: Kelly Sink