Macaroni and cheese from scratch

The classic dish has a bechamel sauce as its base.
By CAROLE KOTKIN
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
If you think macaroni and cheese only comes in a blue box, you owe it to yourself to try this recipe. It has real cheese in it, with complex flavor that cannot be duplicated. The sauce is bound with flour instead of emulsifiers, which gives it body. Best of all, baking gives it a crunchy, golden brown crust.
Food trends come and go, but few American foods have had the staying power of macaroni and cheese. It's the ultimate comfort food: Kids love it, college students live on it and it's the star of potluck dinners.
Thomas Jefferson is often credited with introducing macaroni to the United States. He is said to have brought the nation's first pasta machine home with him from Italy in 1787, and served mac and cheese at dinner parties. Mary Randolph, a cousin of Jefferson's, published one of the earliest known recipes for the dish in 1824 in "The Virginia Housewife," a classic early-American cookbook.
I've rarely met a macaroni and cheese I didn't like, whether it was creamy or dry, or made with Cheddar or Gruyere, or a combination of cheeses. Toss in tomatoes, herbs, onions, sausage, or mushrooms. Sprinkle the top with cooked, crumbled bacon instead of the bread crumbs. Just use your imagination.
Hints
Here are tips for making excellent mac and cheese:
UIt all begins with a bechamel (white) sauce. After whisking the flour into the melted butter to make the loose paste called a roux, cook it for a minute to eliminate the raw-flour taste.
UHeat the milk before whisking it in; it blends more readily than cold milk.
U Once the sauce is thick and creamy, stir in any herbs or spices before removing the pan from the heat and stirring in the cheese.
UThe white sauce and pasta absorb a lot of flavor, so use pungent cheeses; I like sharp Cheddar mixed with a little Gruyere for extra bite.
UChoose a quality brand of Italian pasta made from durum wheat for the best consistency.
UUndercook the pasta so the center is still firm. The pasta will finish cooking as it bakes.
UAlthough pasta is not usually rinsed, I recommend it when making macaroni and cheese to rinse away excess starch that can give the sauce a mealy texture.
UServing suggestion: All you need is a colorful salad and fried or grilled chicken for an all-American dinner -- or skip the flesh and made it a meatless meal. Choose a red wine with substance such as a zesty merlot or a spicy sangiovese.
MY FAVORITE MACARONI AND CHEESE
7 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup fresh French bread crumbs (tear bread into chunks and grind in food processor)
23/4 cups milk (low-fat is fine)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Freshly ground pepper
21/4 cups (9 ounces) grated Cheddar cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) grated Gruyere cheese
1/2 pound elbow macaroni or penne
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small skillet over low heat. Add the bread crumbs and saut & eacute;, stirring constantly, until moistened but not browned. Set aside.
Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat. In large saucepan, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Continue whisking and slowly pour in hot milk. Cook, still whisking, until the mixture is bubbly and thick.
Remove pan from heat and stir in salt, nutmeg, cayenne, freshly ground pepper to taste, 1 cup Cheddar cheese and 3/4 cup Gruyere. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook macaroni 2 to 3 minutes less than package instructions. Drain in a colander, rinse with cold water and drain again, well. Stir macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.
Pour mixture into prepared dish. Sprinkle remaining cheeses and bread crumbs over the top. Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes.
Makes 6 to 8 side-dish servings.
Per serving: 523 calories (52 percent from fat), 30.3 g fat (18.5 g saturated, 8.3 g monounsaturated), 89.3 mg cholesterol, 23.2 g protein, 39.1 g carbohydrates, 1.4 g fiber, 753.5 mg sodium.