Cheesy Goodness x 2

I've been making Arya homemade macaroni and cheese for a while now, so much so that the post-it with the recipe that has been sticking to the side of one of our cabinets is sun bleached.  It's a pretty simple recipe, and I almost always have the ingredients on hand.

Tonight, I really felt like au gratin potatoes, so I went to Pinterest and then Allrecipes to see if I could find one.  I read a few of the reviews on the one with the most ratings and one of them said the sauce was the same as what she used to make macaroni and cheese.  Hmmm, could it be that easy, I thought?!?  I compared the recipes and all that was different was my macaroni and cheese had an extra half cup of cheese.

So, instead of using the au gratin recipe, I just used my macaroni and cheese recipe with different seasonings.

So without further ado,  here's my cheese sauce recipe that can be used for pasta or potatoes!

3 T Butter
2-3 T flour
2 cups milk
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
ground mustard (for macaroni and cheese only)

Melt the butter on medium heat in a saucepan. Once melted, add the flour and whisk continually for 1 minute. (add ground mustard for macaroni and salt to taste for both) Slowly add the milk, whisking continually to avoid all clumps.  Once all the milk is added, heat until it thickens up, whisking occasionally.  I usually turn down the heat a little, but sometimes I forget and it's O.K. Thickening takes up to 10 minutes.  Once it's thickened, dump the shredded cheese in and stir for 30-60 seconds.  Sauce is done!

Either add to a 1/2 lb of elbow macaroni or grease a 1 quart baking dish and slice 2 large russet potatoes (4 small ones) and some onion if you like. Layer the potatoes and onions down and season with salt and pepper generously.  Pour the sauce over the potatoes.  Cover with foil and cook at 400 for 90 minutes.

And for my gluten free peeps.  Here's another really good recipe.  I'm wondering if when someone wanted macaroni and cheese, they might be satisfied with cheesy potatoes instead?