Civil War Macaroni and Cheese

Hey!  It's my birthday!  And since I have no plans and a sleeping baby at home this afternoon, I decided to indulge in a lovely lunch.  The title was what drew me to this recipe - Civil War era mac and cheese?  What??  It's actually really simple, and really tasty.  Check out the original recipe:

"Boil the maccaroni in milk; put in the stewpan butter, cheese, and seasoning; when melted, pour into the maccaroni, putting breadcrums over, which brown before the fire all together."

I've never boiled pasta in milk before (I was worried the milk would burn), but it works!  I ate it without the bread crumb topping and also added about a cup of green peas to mine - it's usually mac and cheese and peas at our house - and it was delicious.  Happy birthday to me!  

Civil War Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups milk
• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni pasta (2 to 2 1/2 cups)
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 2 cups, packed, grated cheddar cheese (about 1/2 pound)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Nutmeg
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup bread crumbs
• Cayenne (optional)

METHOD

1 Heat the milk in a large saucepan until steamy. Stir in the dry macaroni pasta. Let come to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Pay attention while the macaroni is cooking in the milk as the milk may foam up and boil over if the milk gets too hot. Cook the macaroni for 15 minutes or until done. The macaroni should absorb almost all of the milk.

2 Preheat oven to 400°F. As soon as the macaroni is close to being done, melt the butter in a separate saucepan, stir in the grated cheese, black pepper to taste and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg. Once the cheese has melted, pour the sauce into the macaroni and milk mixture and stir to combine. Taste and add salt if needed.

3 Place macaroni and cheese mixture into a baking dish. Sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs. Sprinkle lightly with cayenne (if using). Bake in a 400°F oven for 20 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.

Yield: Serves 4.

Recipe from one of my favorite sites, Simply Recipes.  Also see this post on our family food blog, Dulce de Leche on a Spoon (once I figure out how...).