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Mac & Cheese Crabmeat casserole

The Holiday Season is upon us and for many it means it’s time for some good old home cooking.  Over the last two years I have done a lot of cooking around the holidays. Usually on Thanksgiving, I do most of the cooking as a way to honor my mother and to give her a rest. We both have grew tired of the traditional items like turkey and ham, so we decided to shake things up.  We have a seafood feast instead!  One of the traditional side dishes that we give a “seafood shake-up” to is macaroni and cheese.  Check out the recipe below.

Ingredients

Kraft Home-style Macaroni & Cheese Dinner with Classic Cheddar Cheese, 12.6 oz (2 Boxes)
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend shredded cheese
1 lb crab meat (lump or claw)
Quarter cup diced onions
Quarter cup diced green pepper
Quarter cup green onions
½ teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
½ teaspoon red pepper

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Drain liquid from crabmeat.  *Be sure and careful to remove any shell fragments* 

Follow directions on Kraft Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese packages (Do not add bread crumbs or shredded cheese).

In a pan melt 1 tbsp butter or margarine. Sauté in pan diced onions, diced green pepper, green onions and garlic. Add crabmeat to pan and cook for about 2-3 minutes. In large bowl, combine all the ingredients including macaroni along with pepper, red pepper, Old Bay seasoning, and gently mix.

Layer half mixture into casserole dish (If using more than 1 dish fill both half way. See below).
Sprinkle ½ cup cheese over mixture.
Spoon remaining half of mixture into casserole dish.

Cooking:
Cover and bake for 10 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle remaining cheese and sprinkle bread crumbs on top. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes uncovered.

Options:
Casserole Dishes that can be used are;
-Two, 1 -1/2 quart dishes (divide mixture evenly into each)
-One, 3 quart dish (9 x 13)
-One, 3 -1/2 quart Dutch oven

-Instead of 1 cup milk, you can use ½ cup milk and ½ cup heavy cream.
-If only using one package Macaroni & Cheese, use half measurement of ingredients.
-When adding cheese and breadcrumbs to finish, also sprinkle some bacon bits on top…aww snap!

I really can’t say, “serves 2 – 4”.  It’s Thanksgiving so I might eat a quart on my own.

MacChs