Soulful Sunday: Reesha’s Baked Crab Mac & Cheese [RECIPE]
When I was around 16 years old or so, my father tried to teach me his homemade recipe for making biscuits from scratch. Being the bratty teenager that I was, I half-hardheartedly paid attention, didn't write a single thing down, and lied when I told him I already knew how to do it. Looking back now as an adult with a child of my own, oh how I wish I had paid attention to that recipe!
If I could pass down any family recipes to my soon-to-be 7 year old daughter, Willow, I would tell her how to make my mom's delicious Pineapple Upside Down Cake, my dad's homemade biscuits and his Chess Pie.
I created a playlist of recipe videos for her on my YouTube page, and I'm now adding this Baked Crab Mac & Cheese dish to the list. It came about because I wanted to make something "homemade" for Sunday dinner, and I noticed I had Kraft Shells & Cheese and a can of crab meat that was begging to be lumped together. (See what I did there?)
I generally do not measure out my ingredients (I think that is a gift handed down to me from the ancestors in my DNA), but here's a guestimate of the ingredient measurements I used:
Ingredients:
Macaroni shells cooked al dente
1/2- 1 cup of shredded Colby Jack cheese (put on top of dish before putting in the oven)
1 can of lump Crab meat
CHEESE MIXTURE:
1 Kraft Shells & Cheese pouch
1/4 cup of flour
1 smashed clove of garlic
1 Tbs of butter
Paprika, Salt & Pepper to taste
1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup of whole milk
1 1/2 cup of shredded Colby Jack cheese (to skillet mixture)
Cook macaroni shells according to box instructions, drain and put in a baking dish.
Heat up the Cheese mixture in a skillet on medium heat, stirring with a whisk until thoroughly blended.
Drain crab meat and put on top of macaroni in the baking dish.
Throw some salt on it!
Pour the heated cheese mixture over the crab meat & macaroni; stir until completely mixed together.
Spread 1/2 cup of shredded cheese on top of the dish (or more if you wish), covering up all spaces and sides of the dish.
Bake for about 25 minutes at 400 degrees.
Let the dish sit for a few minutes before serving.