Bitch'n Mac and Cheese

Yo Clubbers:

Went to the last class of the Odyssey Mountain Masters Series...or something like that, and they had a fantastic food spread. The girls, Tisha, Jan and Judith are a force of nature there. Not to mention everyone else!

They kindly sent their fabulous Macaroni and Cheese, artery clogging masterpiece for your pleasure!



Bitch’n Mac and Cheese

Vegetable oil
Salt
1 lb. elbow macaroni or cavatappi

1 quart milk
8 TLB (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
½ cup all-purpose flour
12 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated (4 cups)
8 oz. extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated (2 cups)
½ cup Parmesan or Romano cheese, grated
½ tea. Freshly ground black pepper
½ tea. Grated fresh nutmeg
1  tsp. salt (to taste)
1 bag of crushed potato chips

Preheat oven to 375° degrees.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook 6 to 8 minutes. (You want to undercook the pasta.) Drain well.

Heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don’t boil it. Melt 6 TLB of butter in a large (4 quart) pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a few minutes until slightly thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, cheddar, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, 1 TLB salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish greased with the remaining 2 TLB of butter.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly. After 25 minutes put crushed potato chips on top the continue baking until lightly brown..

To make ahead, put the macaroni and cheese in the baking dish, cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temp before baking as above. Also add the bread crumb mixture at this time.


John Britt