Baked Cheese and Macaroni: My Family's Macaroni and Cheddar and Parmesan Cheese Casserole Recipe

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup flour, unsifted

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

2 1/2 cups milk

2 cups freshly grated Cheddar cheese

• Note:  1 1/2 cups to be mixed with macaroni, 1/2 cup to be mixed with Parmesan for topping

8 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked 6 minutes, drained

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. In a 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over low heat.

• Stir in the following order and until smooth: flour; salt; mustard; pepper.
• Remove from heat, and gradually stir in milk until smooth.

2. Return to burner, and, stirring constantly, cook over medium heat, about 10 minutes or until thickened.

• Remove from heat.
• Stir in 1 1/2 cups of freshly grated Cheddar cheese until melted.

3. Turn cooked and drained macaroni into a 1-1/2 cup casserole.

• Pour Cheddar cheese mixture over macaroni, mixing well.
• Mix remaining 1/2 cup freshly grated, unmelted Cheddar cheese with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling over the top of the casserole.
• Bake in the oven at 375°F (190°C, Gas mark 5) for 25 minutes, or until the topping is lightly browned.

Baked macaroni and cheese casserole can be considered a beloved, respected, widespread dish among English language speakers. There may be different ways of identifying the dish despite the common linguistic base of all English language speakers within the British English of the British Isles. But all identifications refer to an attractive, easy-to-make, nutritious dish which goes well with a number of drink and serving choices

The dish is called macaroni pie in the English of the islands of the Caribbean Sea. It is designated as macaroni (and) cheese throughout Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. In the United States, it will be labeled as:

• Baked mac and cheese;
• Baked mac and cheese casserole;
• Baked macaroni and cheese;
• Baked macaroni and cheese casserole;
• Mac 'n' cheese;
• Mac and cheese;
• Macaroni and cheese casserole.

Virginia-born and bred second U.S President Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743-July 4, 1826) became an early enthusiast of macaroni and cheese during his visits to Europe. President Jefferson even planned to start his own macaroni-making business. Although appearing not to  have succeeded in the culinary сиром enterprise, the President was reputed to have served the dish with imported macaroni and Parmesan cheese.

During the eighteenth century, the baked dish macaroni and cheese indeed was considered welcome on the dining tables of Europe's cultural, political and socioeconomic leaders. One explanation for the dish's key incorporation within fancy dinners by Europeans of money, power and standing was the influence of a fourteenth-century cookbook. Pasta recipes such as macaroni and cheese were gathered together into the anonymously written Liber de Coquina ("The Book of Cookery"), which survives amongst the holdings of the Bibliothèque Nationale ("National Library") in Paris, France.

The dish likewise developed a lasting reputation in the nineteenth-century United States through its inclusion in The Virginia Housewife published in 1824 by Mary Randolph (August 9, 1762 - January 23, 1828), cousin to President Jefferson.