Bess Truman's Mac & Cheese

I can't even remember how I came upon this recipe, but I found it on the American Table website .  It's apparently the mac and cheese recipe of Bess Truman, Harry S Truman's wife.  It's one of the simplest mac and cheese I've seen, and I'm always happy to try a new mac and cheese recipe, so gave it a go.  The results were interesting.  There's no sauce to speak of, but the mac and cheese is pretty moist (in a good way) from the milk.  It has a surprising amount of flavor, considering how few ingredients there are.  My husband wasn't fond of this recipe because he prefers saucy mac and cheese, plus he's just generally particular about mac and cheese.  I really enjoyed it, though, and would happily both make and eat it again.

 

I wanted to stay true to the original recipe, so the only thing I changed was to sprinkle salt on the noodles.

 

Bess Truman's Mac & Cheese

 

1/2 lb macaroni noodles

salt to taste

2 C grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 egg

2 C whole milk

1/2 stick salted butter, cut into pats

 

Preheat oven to 350 and grease an 8 by 8 baking dish.

 

Cook 1/2 lb macaroni in lightly salted water.  Spoon half of it into the prepared baking dish, and sprinkle on a little salt.  Sprinkle on half of the cheddar.  Top with the rest of the noodles, a little more salt, and the rest of the cheese.  Beat the egg, then stir in the milk.  Pour evenly over the mac and cheese.  Arrange pats of butter evenly on top.

 

Bake mac and cheese for about 45 minutes, until golden and bubbly and the interior temperature reaches 160 degrees.  I covered mine with foil 35 minutes in so the cheese wouldn't brown too much.  Let mac and cheese sit for 10 minutes before serving so it can set a bit.

 

Yield: 8 side dish servings