While we all love the ultra creamy, cheesy version of macaroni and cheese casseroles made with a custard base (preferred) or white sauce, the one that I offer here turns out an extra crispy crust made with saltine cracker crumbs.
Admittedly I’ve served this up to mixed reviews. One was in a recipe article I wrote several years ago in the Boston Globe’s food pages. I got a terse email from the editor saying it was rejected by their test kitchen who thought it was too dry. Too much New England muster there.
Another time I served it to an old friend of mine who’s since passed (not from my cooking!). And he loved it, saying it was the best mac and cheese. He had a pedigree in the food world since his son is none other than TV cooking personality Andrew Zimmern whose love of cooked bugs brought him to fame. He visited his father Bob in Portland often, and his favorite spot of all in Maine–besides lobster joints– is Fore Street restaurant.
Bob was a voracious cook, rarely eating out but rather enjoying his own food more. He’d clip (as in the old days) recipes from magazines and newspapers and put them in what he called a tickler file, a holdover from his days as an advertising executive for Gray Advertising. He was friends with James Beard also since Bob in his younger adult years lived in Greenwich Village, and they were neighbors. Though in all the years I knew Bob he never once mentioned going to Sunday brunch at James Beard’s house, a story his son Andrew brags about “going with his father.” We were friends for years in New York and he followed us here when we moved to Maine.
Crisp and cheesy mac and cheese
Yet kudos to Bob for liking my version of mac and cheese made with saltines, milk and plenty of cheddar until it cooks up into a glorious crisp finish. I found the recipe in an old boarding house cookbook from the South and I’ve even come across a version of it in a Maine Baedeker pamphlet.
The beauty of this preparation is that it requires only a few ingredients and minimal preparation. You grate the cheese and crush the crackers (not too finely) and pour in milk. It comes out with a delightfully crisp, brown topping and underneath plenty of melted Cheddar and tender macaroni.
In the past I’ve baked it in an 8-inch square glass Pyrex dish. But the last time I made this I used an 8-inch round Lodge cast-iron baking dish, which I normally use for cornbread. Grease the pan well and the casserole comes out easily.
Ingredients
- 2 cups elbow macaroni
- 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
- 2 cups coarsely crushed saltine crackers
- 2 1/2 cups milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and generously grease a 2 quart casserole dish with butter.
- Prepare the macaroni in salted water and cook per package directions, or about 8 to10 minutes at the boil.
- Drain and put one fourth of the pasta in the prepared dish. Season each layer with salt and pepper. Top with one fourth of the cheese, then one fourth of the cracker crumbs. Repeat until everything is used up, ending with crumbs and some cheese.
- Slowly pour the milk over the top, adding a bit more if you want it very creamy. Bake the casserole uncovered in the preheated oven for about 50 minutes or until the top is browned.
