Southern Baked Macaroni Cheese

Slow and low

Washington, DC, is a southern city with a distinct personality of the North. Politics, power and prestige to make fast, very much at odds with the style of slow cooking southern barbecue truly great.

But two new joints in town aim to put a barbecue on the map. Although both opened in March, Hill Country and Standard adopt very different approaches to the food of the South.

Located in the near Penn and 7th streets NW D, Hill Country is the second location for a flagship restaurant in New York began in 2007.For the founder and CEO Marc Glosserman, it all started with a deep affinity for the BBQ Lone Star State.

"Our mission is really to go out and play our best capabilities of a true classic Texas barbecue joint experience," he said.

Hill Country of Texas mimics a butcher shop-turned-Roadhouse. A bar at the front of the restaurant resembles an old-time store, but the dining room is decidedly different.

Long wooden tables, mismatched kitchen chairs, bricks and pipes, of rockabilly music and lots of neon is a fellow diner exclaiming, "It's less honky-tonk dance!"

The restaurant covers 13,000 square feet on two floors and 300 seats. The lower level has tables overflow and live music, while the main level houses long communal tables and the restaurant "market."

Instead of traditional service, drinks to guests in their waitress and then walk to the meat counter to choose their flat. A wide variety of meats are available, from chest to the shoulder of beef, ribs, beef ribs and chicken.

Visitors can choose, sampling a little of each, and pay a pound for all.The counter staff are a bit gruff and impatient, however, explaining what is available.

Some items come in all sizes (whole, half a pound, etc.) and it is a bit overwhelming and confusing for dinner to be grilled on site. After selecting, you take your meat - wrapped in paper - to another meter that offers what seems an endless array of dishes.

Southern Baked Macaroni and Cheese Recipe | Divas Can Cook

Ok…now yall know finding a good southern soul food style baked macaroni and cheese recipe is like finding gold. No, better it’s like coming across an authentic Louis Vuitton bag on ioffer.com…almost damn near impossible right? People tend to keep a tight grasp on their prized macaroni & cheese recipe so discovering a good, tried & true one can be hard.

Well imagine my shock when my sister sashayed in on Thanksgiving and casually placed this beautiful baked macaroni & cheese on the table. I could have sworn I had all of my family members baked mac n cheese recipes. What was this impostor all about! The proof was in the taste. I had  (ok three) plates of this macaroni and cheese and was on her heels like ash in the winter time trying to get this recipe.

My husband took a bite and said “ohhhhh you need to take your mac n cheese recipe off your blog and put this one up. This one is waaay better than yours!” THANKS A LOT MATT…You’ll pay for that comment dearly! lol When pasta is done, drain and set aside.

Step 2.) In a large bowl, add milk, heavy cream & cheeses (except for the smoked cheddar). Stir to combine.

Step 3.) Taste the milk mixture and add salt & pepper until it has a good taste. This will help avoid having a plain, bland bake macaroni & cheese. Uggh!

Step 4.) When you are content with the taste, add in the eggs. Stir well until combined.

Step 5.) Butter a 9 x 9 inch baking dish, and pour macaroni in.

Step 6.) Pour cheese mixture over macaroni & top with smoked cheddar cheese. Sprinkle with paprika and/or black pepper, if desired.

Step 7.) Bake for 35-45 minutes. Do not overbake. It may be a bit jiggly when you take it out of the oven. It will firm up as it cool.

Step 8.) Let cool for about 10-20 minutes to fully set.

I also used this recipe for Thankgiving and it was also a big hit! It was so delicious. It was truly like what my mother use to make…so thank you! The only thing I changed was I had to use mild cheddar on top b/c I couldn't find smoked cheddar. I searched high and low and never found it…UNTIL yesterday when I was in Target and found it in the "smoked" food section. FIGURES! lol Anyway…thanks again. I'll be using this again and again!!!

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