Big Daddy’s Macaroni & Cheese

PARENTAL ADVISORY: THIS IS NOT KIDS’ MAC & CHEESE

After I graduated college I scratched macaroni and cheese off of my menu for quite some time.  This was a meal for children and broke college kids.  I was done being a child and I had a three cent piece of paper to prove I graduated from an accredited university so macaroni and cheese was officially beneath me. 

Eventually I put mac & cheese back on my list but with a few conditions:  It is a great meal for kids and a good choice at Christmas, Thanksgiving and any other random gatherings where the host tells you to bring “some kind of side dish”.  That is about it, right? Nope.

When the kids are away and the grownups are feeling unhealthy and gluttonous, mac & cheese has the potential to become an animal all its own.  Friday night Chris decided to throw down on a grownup version of this dish and kick things up a notch as far as heat was concerned.  Big Daddy’s Hot Sauce helped just a bit…

Prep - Bacon

                Yes, bacon.

                Nine slices of center cut bacon covered in Big Daddy’s High On Fire hot sauce. 

    After at least 30-45 minutes of Big Daddy’s making sweat love to the bacon, cook it in the oven (no microwaving allowed!)

Bacon, Big Daddy's High on Fire, and a whiskey. Somebody get this guy a refill...

Prep - Goat Cheese

               

    For added Big Daddy’s goodness, mix up some Amplified Heat with a small package of chevre and set it aside for a while.

I love goat cheese. I love Big Daddy's Amplified Heat. I love when they are together.

               

Béchamel Sauce

               

                Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan

                Stir in 2 tablespoons of flour

                Add about 1 cup of milk, or until you reach your desired thickness

Cheesy Sauce Goodness

               

                Once you have your Béchamel where you want it, get busy adding cheeses

                Melt in small block of Velveeta cheese

    Add 8 oz block of extra sharp cheddar (shredded and coated with just a bit of flour to take away the stickiness)

    Add some leftover blue cheese crumbles (this was not part of the original recipe but Chris found them in the fridge and decided it needed a purpose in life, so in it went)

    Splash or so of Pinot Grigio

    Splash or so of whole milk

    Add goat cheese marinated in smoky Amplified Heat love

    Tsp ground mustard

    Tsp onion powder

    Turn to low and let it ride for a bit…

Noodles

   The cheese is simmering but where is the macaroni? We used a box and a half of elbow macaroni noodles.  They were cooked in boiling water. I doubt you need my help on this part.

Breadcrumbs

                Cheese is simmering, macaroni is boiling, and we are sipping tasty beverages…

                We need some extra crunch…

                Leftover whole grain bread, lightly toasted and crumbled up.

                Mix crumbs with a little butter and two pieces of High On Fire bacon crumbles.

                This is going to be the best topping ever….

Put It All Together...

                Mix macaroni noodles and cheesy, saucy goodness

                Pour it all into a baking pan

                Top with the breadcrumb awesomeness

                Put it in the oven for just a bit so it gets a nice finish on top

This picture makes me all sorts of hungry

The Result

You call this mac & cheese? Seriously? No way. This was a bowl full of awesome too good to share a name with the stuff in the blue and orange box that I ate when I was five.  I could eat this three meals a day and not care what I would look like with a bunch of extra chins. 

Serve with a salad and a damn good beer

I love cheese and this had four different types...  I love Big Daddy’s hot sauces and this had two different flavors…  Everything is better with bacon… what more can I say?

The Amplified Heat gave a nice subtle smokiness to the cheese sauce.  It could have actually been kicked up a notch more but I am not complaining.  High On Fire was the perfect choice for the bacon. Packaging the heat in just the one element of the meal rather than having it permeating through the whole dish was definitely the way to go.  This way, when we got the little extra love that a crunch of bacon provides, we really got to enjoy the flavor and kick of the High On Fire.  I liked that we really got to appreciate the cheesy goodness in cooperation with the hot sauce instead of it being overshadowed by it.

The next time you want an easy, delicious meal with no regard to your caloric intake, this is the way to go.  Also, the recipe made enough for lunch the next day and dinner the night after that.  Just make sure to sandwich these meals around a good hike or a run though so you do not feel guilty and blame us for the error message your bathroom scale might provide later.

Final Note

Okay, you can ignore the first line of this post.  Ivan threw down on the leftovers like a champ.  I guess mac & cheese is still a kids’ delicacy no matter how hot and fancy you make it.  I stand corrected!