Stovetop mac and cheese

• 4 tbsp infused butter

  Set your infusion strength above and this splits into infused and plain butter to hit whatever dose you want.

• 4 tbspbutter — plain, for the roux
• 1 lbelbow macaroni
• ¼ cupall-purpose flour
• 3 cupswhole milk — warmed
• 12 ozsharp cheddar — grated from a block — bagged shredded cheese is dusted with starch
• 4 ozgruyere — grated
• 1 tspdry mustard
• ¼ tspcayenne
• salt and black pepper

Method

1. 01

   Boil the macaroni in well-salted water one minute short of the package time, then drain and keep a cup of the cooking water.

   8 min

2. 02

   Melt the plain butter in a heavy pot over medium heat, whisk in the flour and cook until it smells like toast and loses its raw edge. The roux has to spend real time on the heat, which is exactly why it gets plain butter.

   2 min

3. 03

   Pour in the warm milk in three additions, whisking each one smooth before the next. Simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.

   6 min

4. 04

   Pull the pot off the burner and add the cheddar and gruyere a handful at a time, stirring until each handful disappears. Cheese added to a simmering sauce squeezes out its fat and goes grainy; residual heat is enough to melt it.

5. 05

   Stir in the mustard, cayenne, salt and pepper, then the infused butter. The pot should be warm to the hand, not steaming. Keep stirring until you cannot see any separate film of butter on the surface — a film means an uneven pot.

6. 06

   Fold in the drained macaroni and loosen with the reserved pasta water a splash at a time until the sauce pours rather than clumps.

7. 07

   Portion all six bowls at the counter before anyone sits down. A pot in the middle of the table is not a measured serving, and the person who goes back for seconds has taken two doses, not one.

8. 08

   Refrigerate leftovers in labeled single portions. Reheat over low heat with a splash of milk and stir until smooth again.