My grandmother (father’s mom), Vonda Bembry, was born and raised in New Bern, NC. Her cooking style is southern, which is common-place in the south. My grandmother enjoys cooking for the family and Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday of the year. While everyone has a specialty, my grandmother enjoys cooking the sides and desserts. Her most sought after dish that everyone enjoys is the mac & cheese.
Ingredients:
- Cavatappi pasta (1 pound)
- 1 pound of Mozzarella cheese (buy in a block and shred it yourself it makes the food better)
- 1 pound of Colby-Jack cheese (buy in a block and shred it yourself it makes the food better)
- 1/2 pound of sharp cheddar cheese (buy in a block and shred it yourself it makes the food better)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic powder
- Smoked paprika
- 3 tablespoons of butter
- 3 tablespoons of flour
- 1 can of evaporated milk
- 2 cups of heavy cream
- Tablespoon of Dijon mustard
- Chives
Directions:
- Boil your pasta
- Shred all of the cheese
- Mix the shredded cheese well
- Divided by 1/2 into two separate bowls
- Add the seasonings into a separate dish, small container, small bowl, etc.
- Mix the seasonings well
- Heat a pan with all the butter (the pan must be big enough to hold the pasta later)
- Add half the seasoning into the pan after the butter melts
- Add all of the flour into your pan to make a rue
- Cook all of the flour out before moving on
- Put a whole can of evaporated milk into the pan
- *Immediately start whisking*
- Add 2 cups of heavy cream
- Mix it all
- Add the rest of the seasoning
- Add a tablespoon of Dijon mustard
- Let the sauce thicken
- Add cheese from a bowl in small portions allowing each portion to melt completely before adding all of the cheese in 1 bowl (you should have two bowls of cheese at this point)
- Add pasta into the pan
- Mix the pasta well with the cheese sauce
- Layer the pasta into a a baking dish with the cheese from your second bowl (spread pasta, sprinkle cheese, spread pasta, sprinkle cheese, etc. until all your cheese and pasta are in the dish)
- Make sure there is enough cheese to generously layer onto the top
- Put into oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes (keep an eye on it and when the top layer of cheese is melted you are good)
- Broil for 1-2 minutes to crisp the top and get a nice crust
- Remove dish and sprinkle chives
