The Ultimate Mac-n-Cheese

I started making macaroni and cheese frequently once Andrew started eating real food. Mac-n-cheese seems like a great beginner food: it's easy to eat because the noodles are soft and bite-sized, and it contains two of a baby's basic food groups: milk and cheese. I just couldn't bare to feed my baby the boxed stuff made out of bright orange powder, so I started making it from scratch. Well, last night a tried a recipe for it from this cookbook, which I received as a bridal shower gift but haven't ever gotten around to using. If you want an amazing, delicious, so-fattening-you-should-only-make-it-for-other-people-or-on-a-special-occasion mac-n-cheese recipe, this is it. My comments are in italics.

1 pound short macaroni (I highly recommend using whole-grain pasta)
Salt to taste (some for the pasta water, and then about 1/2 to 1 tsp for the cheese sauce)
8 Tbs butter
6 Tbs all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp cayenne (I reduced this amount slightly, and it still had a little kick)
Freshly ground white pepper to taste (I just used a little, like a few pinches)
3 3/4 cups hot milk
4 cups grated cheddar cheese (I've found that you want to pack grated cheese when measuring it. 1 pound of cheese is 4 cups grated)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs (I used my Italian-seasoned dried bread crumbs, and it was ok)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the macaroni until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly.

2. Meanwhile, melt 6 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes. (The flour mixture must foam as it cooks, or the sauce will have a raw-flour taste.) Stir in the cayenne and salt and white pepper to taste. Whisk in the hot milk, about a cup at a time, and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens. Reduce heat to low and stir in 2 cups of the cheese. Cook, stirring, until the cheese melts, about 2 minutes.

3. Combine the cheese sauce and drained macaroni in a large bowl (or the pot you cooked it in!) and season with salt, if needed. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese over the bottom of a buttered 8-by-11-inch baking dish. Put one-third of the pasta in the dish, top with another 1/2 cup of the cheese, then repeat the layering twice, ending with cheese.

4. Pour cream over the assembled macaroni and cheese. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat (or in the microwave). Add the bread crumbs and stir to coat well with the melted butter, then sprinkle over the macaroni and cheese. Bake until golden, about 30 minutes (or until you come home from a walk to the playground to find your smoke alarm going off because you used a smaller-than-8 X 11 pan and the sauce bubbled over onto the bottom on your oven). Allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

To make ahead: Let cool completely, cover, and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

To reheat: If frozen, do not thaw. Reheat in microwave or in a preheated 350 degree oven until warm.