Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Tonight I needed a bit of comfort food so I went to the untried recipe folder and found this recipe courtesy of Alton Brown from www.foodnetwork.com . This is the ultimate take on the tried and true Mac and Cheese.

1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper

Topping:
3 tablespoons butter 1 cup panko bread crumbs.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In large pot of boiling,salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter for the topping in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

I must admit that when I got into the recipe there were a couple of thinks I didn't know. Like what does "temper in a egg" mean. I did it wrong according to what I found out. Plus I didn't know what Panko bread crumbs were and used the traditional type and they worked fine.