Ina's Mac and Cheese.

So, I was home with a pseudo sick kiddo on Friday, and found myself watching all my favorite gals mid afternoon: Ina, Rachel, Giada, Sandra, and Paula. Watching these five makes for a great day - because you get such a wide perspective of styles: French gourmet, fast yet stylish, fresh and light Italian, an emphasis on entertaining, and good-old-fashioned-home-style. Awesome. It totally got the foodie juices flowing.

Ina's episode was about a housewarming party she was cooking for. In it, she made this wonderful mac and cheese. Now, I don't know about y'all, but I LOVE macaroni and cheese. It's really one of my all-time favorite foods. And when I say "mac and cheese" - I mean GOOD HOMEMADE mac and cheese. None of this box stuff will do. Ina's recipe made me want to jump through the TV and join the party. When they spooned it up, you could see the stringy melted cheese goodness.

So, clearly, I went to the store that afternoon and bought all the ingredients!

Ina Garten's take on Macaroni and Cheese

Kosher salt
Vegetable oil
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 quart milk (That's four cups!)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided (only 6 T if you take my suggestion below)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
12 ounces Gruyere, grated (4 cups)
8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 pound fresh tomatoes (4 small)
1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Boil the noodles as directed in a pot with olive oil and salt. Drain and set aside.

Heat the milk on low in a sauce pan. DO NOT boil it! Scorching = nasty milk.

In yet ANOTHER pan (yes, this makes three, and yes, it's worth it), melt 6 Tablespoons of butter. When melted, add the flour, and whisk steadily while cooking over low for two minutes (if you let up - the butter could burn!)

Once the flour/butter is cooked, add the milk (still whisking), and cook until it's thickened up. It'll just turn into a heavy cream consistency - don't expect gravy! Add a tablespoon of salt, the pepper, and nutmeg. Remove from heat.

If you have a food processor, now is the time to use it to grate the cheese. If not, you can do it by hand. If it's by hand, I would recommend grating it before you start (as it will take a bit!). In my case, the Gruyere was too small, but I had plenty of cheddar, so I just went for an overall volume of cheese (6 cups). My mac and cheese was probably a little less pungent, but that was probably better for the kiddos. Now, for those of you put off completely by the Gruyere (I am generally not a fan) - it does not overpower in the dish! It just adds a smoky flavor. If you're nervous about it (as I was) - I would flip the proportions and put in more cheddar than Gruyere.

When the cheese is grated and ready to go, add it to the milk mixture. Do not expect (nor try to force) the cheese to melt. It will do so in the bake.

Place in a 3-quart baking dish. Cover with tomatoes. For the breadcrumbs, this is what Ina says to do:

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top.

I omitted this step, and just sprinkled packaged breadcrumbs. I also topped with paprika for color.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cheese is all bubbly and the top is turning brown. While eating, try not to turn into a 5 year old again while you're children are watching.