Macaroni & Cheese

It is raining and stormy today.  Perfect comfort food weather.  I've had a lot of soup this week, and decided to make something more substantial.  Macaroni and cheese seemed perfect.  There are several basic crock pot macaroni and cheese recipes on the internet and in cookbooks.  They all have the same basic base.  Because milk alone breaks down in prolonged slow cooking, evaporated milk usually needs to be mixed with any regular milk.  All recipes call for an egg or two, so the end result is more of a macaroni and cheese quiche casserole than your traditional macaroni and cheese.

If you work outside the home, this isn't something you will want to make on a work day, it is best left for a weekend.   It could not be easier to assemble.  It is throw everything in, stir, and leave. Most instructions call for 4 hours on low.  Mine was certainly done in 3 hours.  It was already browning too much on one edge.

Winner, Loser, or Meh

I am up in the air about this one. This is heavy and substantial.   It comes out warm moist and bubbly.  It's very casserole-like in texture. It can be cut into a squares.  Personally, I would have preferred something more creamy and I think I will play with some proportions in a future attempt.  I also think I'd add some more seasoning.  Since it is so casserole-like, I wished there had been the taste of onion.  It is best served immediately.  It seems to dry out on reheating.  Again, that may be something that can be improved with different proportions in another attempt.  I'm not ready to give up on this.  In its present form, it is a very serviceable meal.

Recipe

I used a 6 quart crock for this

Ingredients:

1  12 oz can evaporated skim milk
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 1% and you can use use the evaporated milk can to measure this amount.)
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups grated cheese (I used pre grated sharp cheddar)
8 oz macaroni, about 2 cups (I used whole wheat)

Spray slow cooker with no stick spray.  Mix first 5 ingredients in crock until blended.  Stir in last two ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours -no more than 4 hours.