What's For Dinner Tonight?

So, the hub-ster is out of town and I wasn't in the mood to make a fancy dinner. But I wanted some good comfort food. So I think...I got plenty of pasta and plenty of cheese. Well, you guessed it...Homemade Mac & Cheese. SO YUMMY!

 Homemade Mac and Cheese

¼ cup butter

¼ cup flour

1 cup chicken broth

3 cups milk (about, you may need more or less depending on

 how thick you like your sauce)

2-3 cups grated, sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup grated, Swiss or Gruyere cheese

½ tsp. ground mustard powder

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. white pepper

1 tsp. chives

½ tsp. tarragon

½ tsp. thyme

1 box elbow macaroni, cooked al dente in chicken broth

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and add flour. Add mustard and nutmeg and let cook for 3 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth and milk; whisk until smooth and thickened. Then add salt, pepper, mustard powder, chives, tarragon, and thyme, let cook for another 1-2 minutes. Then add cheeses, slowly. Make sure the sauce is NOT boiling when you add the cheese or it will lump up and not be good. (Make sure you taste everything together to be sure it has enough seasoning) Add in the cooked macaroni noodles and stir to coat. Then pour mixture into a buttered casserole dish or 9x13 pan. Cook at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

*you can also add a breadcrumb topping to add a little extra flavor and crunch. I use about

 ¾ cup seasoned breadcrumbs, 3 TBSP. grated parmesan cheese and 3TBSP. olive oil. Stir together and sprinkle on top of Mac and cheese.

{I will totally admit that I didn’t have chicken broth and used water and chicken bouillon cubes. I also was totally out of breadcrumbs and I used a little extra cheese to top off the dish and baked it until the cheese has melted and the sides were bubbly.}