Ken’s Homemade Mac and Cheese

Guest blogger alert! Here’s Ken… When he starts watching too much football on Sundays, I can usually guilt him into cooking/doing a guest blog post during commercials. And his Jets are terrible so it’s not like he’s missing much. Enjoy:

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If there’s anything in the vicinity of unhealthy on this blog, it’s a safe bet that it’s coming from me. While I try to make an effort to combine healthy and, um, not-totally-girly, (see: Grilled Artichokes, Grilled Fruit, Grilled Romaine Salad, Lemon-Mint Pasta with Bacon, and a Guy’s Guide to Pregnancy), things like Beer Can Chicken are more up my alley. Without further ado…. heart stopping mac and cheese.

Ingredients:

4 cups of whole milk. Skim is for sissies.
Stick o’ butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of salt
1/3 to 1/4 pound of diced ham (thick cut)
1 pound of pasta (my choice: bow ties)
8 ounces, or about 3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Our choice: Cougar Gold.
1 cup of grated Romano cheese
bread crumbs to top

Cougar Gold cheese

Heat the milk until boiling. Remove from heat.

budda. melt it in a sauce pan.

Add the flour slowly and whisk constantly for about three minutes. I realize those look like hands from two different people… but I can promise they’re both mine.

whisk.

delicious (slightly browning). Remove from heat.

Get your milk. Turn medium-high heat back on, and slowly pour in the hot milk. Whisk more.

Whisk and stir for about three minutes. Add salt to taste. Remove from heat.

Cook your pasta of choice. Drain and set aside. Not pictured (hopefully not necessary).

Turning medium-high heat back on, add the cheddar and the romano. Stir.

Things got a little hectic here, and I may have forgotten to take pictures (yes, I was trying to do this while watching football). But add the cooked pasta and diced ham into the pan over heat.. Stir, and put in a baking dish.