MACARONI, WITH CHEESE (_London Cooking-school_).
Do not wash the macaroni. Throw it, broken into convenient pieces, into
boiling water which is well salted; stir or shake it frequently, to
prevent its adhering to the bottom of the stew-pan. The moment it is
quite tender (no longer), pour it into a colander, and shake off all the
water. In the mean time, melt a lump of butter the size of a large egg
(two ounces) to half a pound of macaroni, in a cup on the fire, and
grate a handful (four ounces) of cheese. Now, when the macaroni is well
drained, place a little of it in the bottom of the dish in which it is
to be served; pour over it some of the melted butter, and sprinkle over
that a little grated cheese. Continue alternate layers of the three
ingredients until all the macaroni is used, leaving butter and cheese on
the top. Put the dish into the oven, and let it remain three or four
minutes, or long enough for the macaroni to soak the butter and cheese;
then take it out; brown the top with a salamander or hot kitchen-shovel,
when it will be ready to be served. Aim to have it done just the moment
of serving, otherwise the cheese will cool and harden.[D] It requires
about twenty minutes to boil macaroni.