Up to His Elbows in Macaroni

There are a lot of people in Orange County who are confident that had Fred Burrell’s ribs been around at the time of creation, God wouldn’t have bothered Adam.

OK, so his Rib Cage restaurant fare may not be that heavenly, but it’s certainly good enough to allow Burrell to be expanding in this age of business retrenchment. In addition to the original Rib Cage in Santa Ana, there’s a second on Sand Canyon in Irvine and a third about to open in Newport Beach.

“I’m also taking a hard look at Santa Barbara for another place,” he says, adding that the hot sausage he makes will soon be available in select gourmet stores.

Burrell says his secret is to keep it simple. His menus stick to the basics--ribs, sausage, macaroni and cheese, peach cobbler and sweet potato pie.

Wait a minute. Macaroni and cheese? Indeed, he says, a fine old Southern tradition, especially around the holidays. But this is the kind of macaroni and cheese that Kraft could only dream about.

It’s made with two kinds of cheese (Cheddar and jack), eggs and butter. “And it’s made the old country way,” he says, “all in one pot.”

The macaroni is cooked in water but not drained. Instead, when the pasta is almost done, he adds flour, butter, milk, cheese and spices and lets the whole thing cook down. Then, it’s taken out, put in pans, slathered with more cheese and baked.

What you get is macaroni and cheese, not macaroni with a cheese sauce dumped over it. The cheese and other flavorings permeate the macaroni during the cooking process, and it’s like nothing you’ve ever tasted (unless you’re from the Deep South, in which case it’s like going home).

The following recipe is for a lot of people (20 if it’s the main dish, upward of 50 if it’s a side dish), but Burrell says all you have to do is cut down proportionally for your individual needs.

OLD COUNTRY

MACARONI AND

CHEESE

5 pounds small elbow macaroni

3 pounds Cheddar cheese, grated

3 pounds jack cheese, grated

1/4 cup flour

8 eggs

1/2 pound butter

4 cups milk

3 dashes egg shade (optional)

1 teaspoon white pepper

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons salt

Bring 4 quarts water to boil. Add 2 tablespoons salt and macaroni. Stir and cook until almost tender. Add all of the butter and half of each kind of cheese. While the butter and cheese are melting, in a bowl mix milk, flour, beaten eggs, salt, pepper, flour, garlic and egg shade (a yellow food coloring). Swirl into the macaroni pot and cook over low heat until slightly thickened. Pour into baking pans and cover with remaining cheese. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven about 45 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.