One-pot macaroni and cheese

Comfort foods are foods that bring back warm memories of home and childhood, foods that we eat when our spirits are low and we want to feel better. Though comfort foods can be sweet (chocolate pudding) or savory (mashed potatoes and gravy), they always hit the spot. 

One of the most popular comfort foods in the United States, macaroni and cheese comes in many varieties. There are shelves of it in the supermarket, boxes of many colors with different cheeses, different noodles, dried powders we add to pasta, milk, and butter. A "step up" includes cheese sauce in a silver pouch. It's available in the frozen food section, too, in single-serving containers and family style trays. Many delis carry it as ready-to-go meal option. Though all of these options sell well because Americans want to indulge in delicious comforting fare, our love of macaroni and cheese more than likely came from eating the homemade stuff when we were children.

My sisters and I loved our mother's macaroni and cheese, made from roux, with milk and mixed cheddar cheeses and a bit of dried mustard. I'll never forget one Christmas eve when I was a teen. A pot of macaroni and cheese with buttered bread crumbs on top was in the oven when the power went out. Fortunately, we had a gas oven at the time, so dinner kept cooking. My sister Jill collected candles, and Dad found the oil lamp we used to light the dining room in such "emergencies."

After my father fried up some red hot dogs, we all sat down at the dining table to eat. The house was quiet--no television, no hum of appliances--and the mood as we ate was calm, peaceful, thoughtful. There was no rush to finish so we could watch our programs or read a book, so we sat together and talked. After dinner, we sat around the same lamp and played Yahtzee. Eventually, the lights came back on, and we went back to our routines, but I decided that year that we would share the same meal every Christmas Eve we spent together from then on. 

One-pot macaroni and cheese

Making homemade macaroni and cheese as my mother did isn't complicated, but it's more than some want to attempt. Anyone unfamiliar with the process of making roux and then turning it into cheese sauce might be intimidated. And so, many turn to boxed macaroni and cheese, but there is another way to make a simple macaroni and cheese that's ready in 30 to 40 minutes. One-pot mac and cheese. 

Here's the recipe.
4 cups cold water (and more for rinsing)
1 pound macaroni
1 cup half and half
2 T butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp black pepper
8 ounces of Italian blend shredded cheeses

Put the macaroni in a medium saucepan (a taller one, rather than short and wide, is better) and rinse it with cold water. Drain the water as best you can, then add four cups of cold water to the pot. Cook the pasta over medium heat till it comes to a simmer, stirring every minute or two to keep the noodles from clumping. For those of you who don't know, "simmer" means right on the edge of a boil. When you see steam and you hear the occasional bubble, that's the simmer. 
Stir in the half and half, then cover again for a minute or two to let the mixture come back to the simmer. Turn the heat down to low and cook the pasta for 10 minutes, stirring every minute or so. You'll notice the pasta plumping up, and just before it's finished, the level of liquid in the pan will seem to drop to about half or two-thirds the height of the noodles. Two things are happening: the noodles are swelling and rising up, and the level of liquid is dropping. As you approach the 10-minute mark, you'll notice the liquid becoming creamy and coating the pasta.
Add the butter and spice, and stir them in well. Remove the pot from the heat. Add half of the cheese, stir well, then stir in the remaining half. Season to taste if needed, or stir in optional additions, like bacon bits, chopped chicken tenders, cooked spinach or whatever you think will taste good. 
Note: A blend of cheeses is best for this dish. I attempted this first with sharp, dry cheddar, and the result simply wasn't cheesy enough. Mix your own, or look for mixed, shredded cheeses in the supermarket.