Well I'm spending the evening with the sniffles and a cup of hot cocoa, so I thought it was a good time to share a recipe I made last week that the hubby really loved. This is not low fat in any way, but the best mac and cheese recipes aren't!
I adapted it from the blog Simply Delicious, which is written in metric and also made a huge batch of this recipe, so below is my adapted version.
Since I'm in the process of growing another human being, we haven't had much beer or wine in the house. Therefore, I had to buy a bottle just for this recipe. I used Bud Light because it was cheap. As a result, there was not an over-powering beer flavor in this dish. Obviously, a stronger beer would yield a stronger beer flavor if that's what you prefer.
Beer and Bacon Mac and Cheese
pic from Simply Delicious
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb bacon, diced
- 1/2 stick butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 can beer
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup half and half
Directions
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 oven-proof dish (or any large casserole dish that you fancy).
2. In a pot or deep skillet, fry the bacon in a large pot until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pot but leave the fat.
3. Add the butter to the bacon fat and allow to melt then add the mushrooms.
5. Slowly add the beer, all the while whisking constantly. Do not stop and send a text message.. keep whisking!
8. Once cheese as melted and sauce is thick, stir in the cooked pasta. Add some of the reserved cooking water and mix well. The macaroni needs to be well covered by the sauce and will almost look like it’s got too much sauce covering it. If it doesn’t, add more of the water. If you wanted to be very decadent you could add more cream at this stage too. I added about 1/2-3/4 cups of the reserved water.
11. Place in the oven and allow to bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling.
I adapted it from the blog Simply Delicious, which is written in metric and also made a huge batch of this recipe, so below is my adapted version.
Since I'm in the process of growing another human being, we haven't had much beer or wine in the house. Therefore, I had to buy a bottle just for this recipe. I used Bud Light because it was cheap. As a result, there was not an over-powering beer flavor in this dish. Obviously, a stronger beer would yield a stronger beer flavor if that's what you prefer.
Beer and Bacon Mac and Cheese
pic from Simply Delicious
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb bacon, diced
- 1/2 stick butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 can beer
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
- 2-3 cups strong cheddar, grated (I used a locally made Amish butter cheddar b/c it was creamier - Gouda would be good too!)
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 lb pasta (I used penne), cooked according to package directions (reserve 2 cups of the cooking water)
- 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese (or more cheddar if you don't have anything else on hand)
- 2-3 cups strong cheddar, grated (I used a locally made Amish butter cheddar b/c it was creamier - Gouda would be good too!)
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 lb pasta (I used penne), cooked according to package directions (reserve 2 cups of the cooking water)
- 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese (or more cheddar if you don't have anything else on hand)
- 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 oven-proof dish (or any large casserole dish that you fancy).
2. In a pot or deep skillet, fry the bacon in a large pot until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pot but leave the fat.
3. Add the butter to the bacon fat and allow to melt then add the mushrooms.
4. Saute mushrooms for a minute or two then add the flour and whisk for about a minute.
5. Slowly add the beer, all the while whisking constantly. Do not stop and send a text message.. keep whisking!
6. When all the beer has been incorporated, add the milk and cream and mix until the sauce is smooth. At this point you might need to add a little more liquid, I just add more milk but you can also use chicken stock if you prefer. The sauce will thicken a bit as it cooks, plus in a bit we'll be adding some pasta water, so don't make it too thin.
7. Take the pot off the heat and add the cheese and bacon back to the sauce and stir until the cheese has melted.
8. Once cheese as melted and sauce is thick, stir in the cooked pasta. Add some of the reserved cooking water and mix well. The macaroni needs to be well covered by the sauce and will almost look like it’s got too much sauce covering it. If it doesn’t, add more of the water. If you wanted to be very decadent you could add more cream at this stage too. I added about 1/2-3/4 cups of the reserved water.
9. Mix together additional shredded cheese and breadcrumbs in a small bowl.
10. Transfer the macaroni into the prepared dish and cover with the breadcrumbs/cheese mixture.
11. Place in the oven and allow to bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling.
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