Mac and Cheese Recipes — The Dish I Bring When the Community Gathers

The second anniversary of the discovery. February 6th, 2015, was the day I found the credit card statement. I remember the date because librarians remember dates. Two years. Seven hundred and thirty days of rebuilding, of therapy, of the slow, unglamorous work of deciding every morning to stay.

Robert marked the day by not marking it. He came home at the usual time, with the usual kiss on my cheek, and made no reference to the date, which I appreciate because some dates are best honored by silence.

I made she-crab soup. Not because it has any connection to the affair but because it has a connection to me — to who I am, to the woman who stands at the stove and stirs the roux and is not defined by her husband's worst decision but by her own ongoing ones. I am a woman who makes she-crab soup. I am a woman who stayed. I am a woman who is living this life, and the living is its own argument for the choice.

At the library, I am hosting a Black History Month series centering Charleston's own history — the city's role in the slave trade, the Lowcountry's Gullah heritage, the stories of Black Charlestonians who built this city with their hands and their cooking. The first event was a talk about the enslaved cooks of Charleston, the women and men who created the cuisine I now practice. The recognition that Lowcountry cooking carries this history in every dish is not a burden but a responsibility.

Mama called on Saturday, lucid and herself. She told me she'd been watching a cooking show and the chef made she-crab soup and "did it all wrong," which is the most Carolyn Simmons sentence possible and which made me laugh hard enough to startle the phantom cat of my childhood.

She-crab soup is the dish I make for myself — the private act of identity, the roux I stir alone at the stove. But the other dish I’ve been cooking for the Black History Month series at the library, the one I set out on the table after the talks and the questions and the weight of all that history, is mac and cheese: baked, layered, unapologetically rich, and as much a part of the Lowcountry canon as any she-crab or shrimp and grits. The enslaved cooks of Charleston fed this city’s tables with dishes like this one, and every time I pull a pan of it from the oven I feel that lineage in my hands.

Southern Baked Mac and Cheese

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr 5 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 lb elbow macaroni
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk, warmed
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for pasta water
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, freshly shredded, divided
• 1 cup Colby Jack cheese, freshly shredded
• 1 cup Gruyère cheese, freshly shredded
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs (optional topping)

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook macaroni 2 minutes less than package directions (it will finish cooking in the oven). Drain and set aside.
2. Make the roux. In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes until the mixture smells nutty and turns pale gold.
3. Build the sauce. Slowly pour in the warm milk and heavy cream, whisking steadily to prevent lumps. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 6 to 8 minutes.
4. Season and melt the cheese. Stir in the mustard powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Remove from heat and fold in 1 1/2 cups of the sharp cheddar, the Colby Jack, and the Gruyère until fully melted and smooth.
5. Temper the eggs. Whisk a ladleful of the warm cheese sauce into the beaten eggs to temper them, then stir the egg mixture back into the saucepan. Fold in the sour cream.
6. Combine. Add the drained macaroni to the cheese sauce and stir until every piece is coated. Pour the mixture into a greased 9x13-inch baking dish.
7. Top and bake. Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup of sharp cheddar evenly over the top, then dust with breadcrumbs if using. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 35 to 40 minutes, until bubbling at the edges and golden on top. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 610 | Protein: 24g | Fat: 32g | Carbs: 55g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 620mg