Baked Mice

When we were younger, my mother would let us pick our favorite dinners out for our birthday meal.  My brothers and I had several favorites, but the universal favorite was almost always a baked macaroni and cheese dish we called Macaroni Mickey Mouse.  The recipe came from a big, fragile, gold bound cookbook of Mom's -- a Better Homes and Gardens special edition with the best recipes of the previous 40 years arranged by decade.  The dish was actually called Macaroni Mickey Mousse and, according to the cookbook, was a favorite of Walt Disney.  I have never seen this recipe anywhere else, so on a whim, I turned to the research tool of the decade:  I Googled it.  And lo and behold, what did I find?

But this recipe was not only a birthday favorite, but also our traditional Good Friday meal.  It worked very well, especially since my mother does not like fish, and barbecued shrimp makes for messy fingers ( I hate messy fingers!).

Over the years, we made some changes to the original recipe, mainly not using the pimento and increasing the amount of macaroni by a smidgen.  But basically, the recipe is the same as the one served by Mr. Disney.  And just recently my mother told me she thinks I do a better job of this dish than she ever did.

I just slid my Good Friday Macaroni Mickey Mouse into the oven.  I think after I finish cleaning up the dinner dishes, I may go watch some Donald Duck cartoons.  Thank you, Mr. Disney, for all the memories.

Macaroni Mickey Mousse
1½ cups elbow macaroni
1½ cups milk
¼ cup butter
1 tablespoon onion, finely chopped
1 cup soft breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon salt
dash pepper
dash paprika
1½ cups cheddar cheese, grated
3 eggs, beaten

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Grease standard loaf pan (8½ x 4½ inches).
• Cook macaroni according to package directions, and keep warm.
• In same pan used for macaroni, warm milk and butter until butter is melted.
• Remove from heat and add onion, breadcrumbs, parsley, salt, pepper and paprika, stirring well.
• Stir in macaroni and cheese.
• Blend in eggs.
• Turn into prepared loaf pan.
• Bake at 325°F for 50-60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
• Cool at least 10 minutes before turning onto platter/board and slicing to serve.

Adapted from:  Macaroni Mickey Mousse, Better Homes and Gardens Golden Treasury of Cooking, 1973

My Observations:

• This is lighter in texture than most other baked macaroni & cheese, though it does have a custard-like texture.
• The loaf may puff a bit in baking, but will collapse fairly quickly upon cooling.
• It is best served the day made; it becomes dense upon standing and reheating tends to toughen the custard base.  I actually find this is one thing that is better reheated in the microwave.
• You can add diced ham to the loaf, but I do not think it is needed.
• This can also be baked using a 9x13 casserole dish, for 40-50 minutes, and then cut into squares for service.