Macaroni and Cheese

I have family coming to visit this week. Since 2 of them are children, I thought it'd be a good idea to have some homemade macaroni and cheese on hand. It's the one food all children seem to like. I'll tell you a secret ... I kinda like it myself.

Here's a look at the ingredients you'll need to get started.

Excuse me while I help myself. Just for testing reasons. I never indulge in anything that's illegal, immoral or fattening. Okay, you've got me on that fattening thing.

Ingredients

2 cups of dried elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons of real butter
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1-1/4 cups of whole milk
1 tablespoon of dry mustard
1 egg, beaten
1/2 pound of freshly grated cheese (I used medium cheddar)
Pinch of salt
Several shakes of ground black pepper
A pinch of Paprika

Cook macaroni until al dente. Drain
In a small bowl or cup beat an egg and put aside
In a medium pan melt the butter and then sprinkle in the flour. Whisk together at med-low heat for 5 minutes. (This is called making a roux) Whisk constantly and avoid burning it.
Reduce heat to low. Pour in the milk, add mustard, salt, pepper, and paprika. Cook for 5 more minutes, whisking often

Now you need to temper the egg. Take about a quarter cup of the roux/milk mixture and slowly pour it into the egg, whisking all the time you're pouring. If you don't do this slowly while whisking you could end up with scrambled eggs. Once this is done you can pour it back into the pan and whisk until smooth.

Add in all but 1/2 cup of the cheese, and stir until melted. Then put the cooked, drained macaroni in the pan and stir till well combined.

Pour it into a buttered baking dish, top with the reserved cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.