Anthony Bourdain's Macaroni and Cheese

"Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride."
-Anthony Bourdain

My siblings and I did not grow up with macaroni and cheese. I know. It's like I have to turn in my "kid" card or something.

You see, Momala and Dad didn't exactly grow up with it either, so it never made an appearance on our dinner table. Not sorry at all, as she made the best spaghetti sauce I have ever had in my life. It took ten hours of cooking and, although it sounds odd, her secret ingredient was a cup of brewed coffee. It had a deeply exotic flavor and, as much as I have tried...never been able to replicate it.  

This particular recipe is a mac-and-cheese lover's dream. Four cheeses. [Ed. note: Turns up the porn music.] Over the years, I have made a metric ton of mac and cheese for my clients, and have over a dozen different varieties on my menus. Typically, after trying a recipe for the first time, notes sprout around the margins with any changes I personally make to the original script, i.e., "Do again," "awesome," "needs tweaking," "BF likes it," "add to client menu," or the killer "do NOT make again." On this recipe, well...

"Holy Shit! Great!!!!" [Ed. note: Take it from a guy who wrote and edited for a magazine that literally had its name, with one exclamation point, trademarked: Four exclamation points is serious.] 

Ooeey, gooey, stringy, melty goodness, with a crusty golden top and phenomenal flavor that both kids and adults adore. In fact, on my menu it's called "Adult Mac & Cheese." [Ed. note: Porn music continues.]
​
This recipe comes from the late Anthony Bourdain's Appetites. The BF and I are longtme fans of his books and television shows, and for me, personally, he had a monumental impact, instilling a great respect for food, the animals themselves, the restaurant business, and the people behind every aspect of meal creation.

A quick aside: two years ago Bourdain was on a spoken-word tour in San Francisco. On previous tours, I had tried to get tickets for the BF and I, but they had always sold out too quickly. This time, I was a redailing machine and scored the tickets. Excited as I was, my personal-chef schedule was so busy that I couldn't adjust my client for the night of the show, so the tickets ended up being given to my dear friend Maria, who of course loved it. Was disappointed that I didn't get to see him, but I assured myself Bourdain would come back to San Francisco again on a future tour.

Of course, that will not happen.

At the show, Maria was kind enough to buy me a copy of Appetites as a gift. Very thoughtful gesture at the time, but now, considering his passing, I cherish it more than ever. If you look at the picture below, you can see the ragged bookmarks and Post-It tabs demarking the dishes I have made and have yet to try. When I open it up now, I feel like hugging my loved ones a little tighter, for a little longer.

I may or may not be traveling to parts unknown anytime soon, with or without reservations, but hopefully channeling his spirit I will continue to share my table and break bread with people I love. Old friends and new. People who look, talk, dress, or vote differently than I. Am not one to want to sound as if on a soapbox, but I believe food brings people together in spite of any differences, and think Bourdain believed that, too.

Going to miss you, Chef.

​Adapted from: Anthony Bourdain, Appetites: A Cookbook
Number of servings: 8-10

Ingredients

• 1 pound dry elbow macaroni
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 ½ cups whole milk
• 2 teaspoons mustard powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper (if making for kids, decrease to ¼ teaspoon)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 8 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (divided)
• 4 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated
• 5 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 3 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed
• 4 ounces cooked and thinly sliced ham, julienned (optional, was not used here)
• 2 teaspoons salt, or more to taste
  
• Freshly ground white pepper to taste  (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 ˚F.
2. In a large, heavy-bottom pot, bring salted water to a boil and add the elbow macaroni. Cook according to package instructions until just al dente, then drain and set aside.
3. Make sure you have both a whisk and a wooden spoon nearby, and something to rest them on. You will be switching back and forth between both utensils as you first make a roux and then build on that to make a béchamel.
4. In the still-hot macaroni pot, heat butter over medium-high heat until it foams and subsides. Whisk in flour, then switch to a wooden spoon and stir steadily over medium-high heat, until mixture begins to turn a nutty golden brown, about 2 minutes. Do not let the mixture scorch.
5. Whisk in the milk and bring mixture just to a boil, stirring with the wooden spoon and making sure to scrape each part of the surface of the pan so that hunks of flour or milk do not stick together. Reduce to a simmer and continue to cook and stir until mixture is slightly thicker than heavy cream.
6. Whisk in mustard powder, cayenne, and Worcestershire, then add half the Parmigiano-Reggiano (you’ll sprinkle the rest over the top) and the rest of the cheeses and the ham (if using), and stir until the cheeses have melted completely. Stir in the cooked macaroni and mix well. Remove from the heat and stir in salt and optional pepper.
7. Transfer mixture to a glass or ceramic casserole, top with remaining Parmigiano, and bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the top is golden brown and mixture is bubbling slightly.
8. Serve hot, or refrigerate and gently reheat.​

NOTE: This makes a large amount of mac & cheese, but it's easy to cut the recipe in half for four servings.