Buttermilk Macaroni and Cheese

This is definitely a weekend recipe but it should set you up for a yummy weekend dinner and side dishes for a few days during the week. This is a twist on my absolute favorite dish growing up. There is still nothing I enjoy more than a bowl of piping hot mac and cheese along side a big helping of sauteed kale.

1 leek, white and light green parts only, well cleaned and diced

1 pound macaroni or your favorite curly tube pasta

1/4 c butter

1/4 c unbleached flour

2 c whole milk

2 c lowfat buttermilk

4 cups of your favorite white cheddar, divided

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cook pasta in salted water according to directions and drain.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add leeks and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add flour and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring steadily.

Add the whole milk and then the buttermilk. Stir your sauce until it begins to thicken. This will vary in time depending on how cold your milk was (You can shorten this process by heating the milk ahead of time). When the sauce begins to thicken, add 3 cups of cheese and stir to combine.

Place the pasta in an ovenproof dish and pour the cheese sauce over top, stirring carefully to combine. Top with remaining cheese and cover with aluminum foil. Bake, covered for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Remove foil and cook uncovered for an additional 10 minutes to brown.

Enjoy!

The After Work Chef

Dear After Work Chefs,

Welcome! I'm Christin, a busy working (fairly) newlywed who loves to cook and eat wonderful meals. We are lucky enough to live in NYC where we can enjoy some of the best restaurants in the world. But we also love to cook and enjoy our home. So, as often as I can, I make use of the inspiration the city provides and I cook for us when I get home from work. The challenge is, like most New Yorkers, I work a lot and have limited time for shopping and cooking.

This is how I work it out: Almost all of our dry goods and meats come from Fresh Direct. I go to my neighborhood farmer's market on Saturdays for produce and do almost no grocery shopping outside of this. Finally, I usually do a little project over the weekend in the spirit of making our meals a bit more special during the week.

I have created this blog in celebration of busy people preparing delicious meals and treating themselves well at home.

I hope you will enjoy it.
Christin