cheese-tastic

I was feeling the need for some comfort food after a draggingly long day at work, and for me comfort food always seems to translate into 'layered in a casserole dish'. Noting the impressive variety of cheeses in the fridge I could come to only one conclusion; experimental baked macaroni and cheese. So I melted some butter in my wok (everything sauce-like seems to get bigger than I initially plan so I have take to starting in my larges pan to avoid having to transfer it later) and caramelized some chopped onions before whisking in some cream, a little bit of flour, powdered mustard and lots of salt and pepper. Then while the pasta (elbows, I am a traditionalist) was cooking, I shredded the cheese (extra sharp New Zealand cheddar and mozzarella plus some shredded 'Mexican blend' I discovered-leftover from nachos?) and added it a little at a time to the sauce until it was so thick and creamy that every time I lifted the spoon out great thick tendrils of cheese oozed off it like ribbons. Clearly it was done, so dumped the cooked pasta into the pan and shook it about until it was thoroughly coated in sauce and then transferred the whole kit and caboodle to my deepest glass casserole dish and then turned my attention to the bread crumbs I was attempting to toast in butter in another pan that I had forgotten to turn the heat on underneath. With the bread crumbs attended to and dispersed over the top of the macaroni and the oven heated and ready, and a little more grated cheese on top (there is never too much cheese) I bid farewell to my monstrous creation. Until it was sufficiently bubbling on the sides to be considered 'done' (20 minutes later?) and I removed it from the oven, served it up with broccoli (last minute addition) and salad to a hungry crowd (a.k.a. my roommate and visiting mum) and promptly burnt my tongue on hot cheese. A good reminder to wait for it to cool, but I never seem to heed the warnings. It was devoured. And delicious. Long live cheese (and by association, cows). Yum.