Baked Macaroni and Cheese (Personal Variation: Old Fashioned)

So Bittman has a baked macaroni recipe in this cookbook that is good, but it is no show stopper. Before I tried this recipe I had another baked macaroni recipe that I think is just to die for (literally and figuratively). I was pleased when I realized that my recipe was just a version of his, with slightly different ratios of ingredients, but the same exact method!

Here is my list of ingredients (I've written them in the left margin of my cookbook so that I don't have to keep that other version around anymore):

• 1 1/3 cup cream or half and half
• Salt
• 2 1/2 cups milk (why would you want to use low fat here?)
  
• omit bay leaves
  
• 1 pound penne
• 10 tablespoons (1 stick and 2 tbl) butter(I told you it was to die for!)
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 10 oz. grated cheese, I like White Cheddar
• Can omit Parmesan (but when is less cheese a good thing?)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup or more bread crumbs, preferably fresh (p.876)

The only changes to the method are these:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 instead of 400.
2. No changes.
   
3. Melt only 1/2 of the butter. After you add the cheese add the cream.
4. Top the bread crumbs with remaining butter cut into small pieces. Bake for 30 minutes and let stand for 5 before serving.

If you bring this dish to a pot luck I guarantee you will not bring any home and that for you might be a good or bad thing!

HTCEV p.460
HTCE p.508