Guest Star: Mac n' Cheese

Today's Guest Star is brought to you by Michelle, who says: "This is the closest that I've been able to replicate my favorite mac and cheese. I had it with Sterling in NYC at a place called S'Mac. Sooooo good! This recipe is great for using leftover ham, or just when you want a lot of cheese." Sounds fantastic to me!

Guest Star: Grown-up/Awesome/Best Mac and Cheese

- left-over ham, in smallish pieces
- shallots, 1 or 2, sliced thin
- figs, one handful, sliced in half
- fresh rosemary, as much as you want, chopped
- butter, 2 tbs plus 3 tbs plus 1 tbs
- smoked cheddar, 1 cup grated
- cheddar, 1 cup grated
- elbow macaroni, one pound
- Parmesan, about 1/4 cup
- bay leaves, 2
- flour, 3 tbs
- milk, 2.5 cups
- salt and black pepper to taste

1. preheat oven to 400F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

2. Cook the milk with the bay leaves in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. When small bubbles appear along the sides, turn off heat and let stand. While the milk is cooking, melt 2 tbs of butter in small saute pan. Add ham and sliced shallots. Stir off and on until shallots are soft, then add figs and half the rosemary. In large pot, add salt and cook the pasta until it's just underdone. Drain the pasta. You can either leave it in the colander or put it back in the pot, but be careful that it doesn't stick to the pot- turn the heat to low.

3. In another small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt 3 tbs of butter. When it's golden and foamy, add the flour and cook, stirring with a whisk, until the mixture browns. Remove the bay leaves from the milk now and start adding milk in 1/4 cup portions to the floury goo. As soon as the milk is incorporated, add more, and keep doing that until all the milk is added. Now add the grated cheese. Keep stirring with that whisk or everything is stuck together!

4. Add your ham-shallot-fig-rosemary mixture to the cheesey goodness. Add the rest of the chopped rosemary, too. Stir! Now, if you put the pasta back in it's pot, pour the cheesy mixture over the pasta and stir to incorporate fully. Use that last tablespoon of butter to coat the inside of a 9x13 pan (I used a glass Pyrex pan). Now pour in the mac and cheese. Once it's all in the pan, sprinkle the Parmesan on top. Put it in the oven! Set your timer for 20 minutes, but you can check and take it out once it's started to brown on top. Eat! Soooo good.