Macaroni and Cheese is a very simple dish to make. However, it can be bland and to be honest anyone serving poor Macaroni and Cheese should be punished severely. With that in mind, and to help eradicate corporal punishment for bland cooking, here is my favourite recipe for this cheesy pasta classic.

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 3 cups milk
• 1 small onion, grated
• 3/4 pound shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (3 cups)
• 8 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
• 3/4 cup soft bread crumbs

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375°F, 190°C, Gas 5
2. In saucepan over medium low heat melt 4 tablespoons butter
3. Blend in flour and seasonings, stirring until smooth and bubbly
4. Gradually stir in milk; cook and stir until thick and smooth.
5. Stir in grated onion and cheese.
6. Place cooked drained macaroni in a buttered casserole dish.
7. Pour sauce over macaroni and gently mix to blend.
8. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and toss with the bread crumbs.
9. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the macaroni.
10. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Sometimes I like to put some sliced tomatoes on just before I add the breadcrumbs. You can experiment with other toppings as well, but the breadcrumbs are important.

My life has changed recently, with a new addition to the family. Born on 18th December, Holly Louise joined the Little clan and its safe to say that things have been very different ever since.

Positively different of course.

Of course I can’t blame fatherhood for my lack of contributions to the site as procrastination is my middle name. On the contrary, what I would say is that becoming a dad again has inspired me to write more,  which I part attribute to the birth being a fresh start, and part due to having a lot of time to think and plan while I pace up and down the 18 square foot space in the kitchen at 1am.

Embracing this new vigour, I have finally started up my personal website which will collate previous works (heh), these posts and updates on various projects. You can find it at http://davidlittlepresents.co.uk if you like – and you might – so drop by.

I’ve also looked at the original plan for The Smorgasbord and only one themed day was ever updated on a regular basis. I’ve taken a look and worked out which do still have legs and which need to be shaken up or removed completely.

So, here’s the new weekly line-up.

Monday Musings: Thoughts on things. Hard to define as it will change from week to week. So far we’ve had subjects from flat pack furniture to hand dryers althought the latter one seems to be gone. I need to find it and repost.

Recipe Tuesday: Some of my favourite recipes that I need to share with you. In the main they are simple and always delicious. You must then go and make them. Immediately.

Wednesday Why: The best of the world’s weird.

Comics I Might Have Bought: My pull list for the week for the same day several years ago.

Thursday Tales: Posts on my pursuit of a literary career.

Friday Fatherhood: A summary of my week as a dad.

Spam of the Week:  Best piece of spam seen in the comments section.

There you have it. Hopefully you’ll drop by regularly to read the plethora of content, or at the very least, help blow the tumbleweed across the virtual ghost town.

Enjoy.

Good to see Superman was a stalker before the movie reboot. Stalking yourself though… thats got to be the weirdest.

Oh, looks like it runs in the family.

Avenging the Avengers? You see what they did there?

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You wouldn’t want to be stoned looking at this cover. But it might help.

Elektra provides a potentially extreme cure to Daredevil’s deviated septum.

These cookies come from the remarkable Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who isn’t so much a British chef but an exponent for self sufficiency. Over the years his River Cottage series have shown him raise his own produce, and help catch and cull various animals and fish to prepare for his family’s plate, or as part of a banquet to those local heroes he so loves. 

When I make these, I often mix things up by having a batch of dark chocolate and a batch of white chocolate or both in one. These really expand to create huge cookies so ensure you leave lots of space between the blobs of sweet goodness before they go in the oven.

Ingredients

• 100g/3½oz good dark chocolate
• 125g/4½oz unsalted butter
• 100g/3½oz granulated sugar
• 75g/2½oz soft brown sugar
• 1 free-range egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g/5¼oz plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• a pinch of salt

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Chop the chocolate into little chunks and set aside.
2. Heat the butter in a small saucepan very gently until it has just melted. Meanwhile, put the two types of sugar into a mixing bowl.
3. Pour the melted butter on top of the sugars and beat well with a wooden spoon.
4. Add the egg and the vanilla and beat until well blended.
5. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the mixing bowl and stir them in, then add the chopped chocolate.
6. Dot heaped pudding spoonfuls of the mixture over the lined baking sheets, leaving plenty of space in between them–they really spread out while baking.
7. Put the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are just turning golden brown.
8. Leave the cookies on the baking sheets to harden for a couple of minutes, then carefully lift up the baking parchment and transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
9. You can eat these cookies warm, but they are also good cold, and they store well in an airtight tin.

Serve, of course, with a tall glass of chilled milk.