da hot hot dish

colleen told me to post this -- and let me preface this entire post with THIS IS THE BEST MAC AND CHEEZ YOU'LL EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER HAVEEEE!

now that that's done...

Ingredients

• 2 cups elbow pasta, cooked until almost al dente
• 16 ounces Cheddar cheese, 1/2 cubed, 1/2 shredded
• 8 ounces Monterey pepper jack cheese, cubed
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 4 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 4 slices bread
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Special equipment: 2-quart baking dish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, toss together pasta with the cheese cubes and pour into the baking dish. In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, nutmeg and sour cream, egg, heavy cream and half-and-half. Pour over the pasta and cover with shredded Cheddar. Bake uncovered until top is just beginning to brown, about 35 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the bread into crouton-sized squares. In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter, add cubes and toast until golden. Sprinkle the bread cubes on top of the macaroni and cheese and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes more.

_______________________________________________________

I feel like a bad food cooker since I'm always talking about how I edit everything...BUT it's so necessary with this recipe. I have all the spices listed except for dry mustard so I substituted regular dijon mustard for it. like the kind that comes in a squeeze bottle. is that even right? I'd bet some dry mustard would work amazoidly but I've never come across the need for dry mustard in any other recipe so I've never bought it. spices are EXPENSIVE. so that's the first thing.

secondly - this recipe calls for both half and half and heavy cream. I'm not a milking cow or anything but aren't they similar? I use whatever I feel like getting and substitute for the entire 2 cups worth. I think I've even used whole milk too. and I've never done the breadcrumb thing at the end -- when you pull this bubbly cheese concoction out of the oven, you'll want to eat it ASAP and not mess around with toasting bread and all that. I always make it with pepper jack and cheddar but you could just use all cheddar too -- or add a little fontina or gruyere or parmesan? it'll come out mr. bombastic say me fantastic, regardless. yes, I referenced shaggy just now. get used to it, mr. lover lover.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPiECg6o1_o&feature=related