Bacon Makes everything Better: Bacon Laced Macaroni and Cheese

During my attempts to keep a group a hungry teens fed, I whipped up a big batch of macaroni and cheese.  I made it even tastier by adding bacon! mmmmm......bacon..... I know for a fact there are people out there who thick we eat bacon all the time.  Rest assured, we don't.  We wish we could eat bacon all the time but we don't.  I mean who doesn't wish they could eat bacon everyday?  I really don't think my arteries would love me for that.  Yes, I have made a few posts about bacon lately, but we really don't eat bacon that much.  We are just on a bacon kick.  My original mac n cheese recipe can be found here. This turned out to be such a hit, my son sent leftovers with his guests!

Hickory smoked, pepper crusted bacon....mmmmmmm

Bacon Laced Macaroni and Cheese - please note, there is nothing really health about this recipe...it is just darn tasty....
Printable recipe
You will need:

• ½ lb bacon, cut into pieces and fried crisp. (Save the bacon in a safe spot, away from bacon lovers to prevent unwanted snacking)  Feel free to use more bacon if you would like more bacon in your mac, or just some to snack on as you go...
• ¼ cup bacon fat
• ¼ cup butter
• ½ cup flour
• 4 cups half and half, warmed
• 1 healthy squirt of hot sauce (tobacco or sirracha)
• 1 healthy squirt mustard (yellow, Dijon....whichever you have)
• 2 boxes macaroni (tonight I used cavatapi, they were both just under a pound of pasta each)
• 3 cups Grated old cheddar
• 1 cup Grated Gouda (reserve a small amount of both cheeses for the bread crumb topping)

Topping

• ½ cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 or 3 tbsp bacon fat (or olive oil, or melted butter)
• ¼ cup asiago

Assembly

Butter a 9 x 13 baking or casserole dish and set aside.

Put a large pot of water on the stove to boil.  Cook the pasta al dente so it won’t be soggy after baking.  If your package of pasta has a minimum boil time, use the lowest time it gives.  Drain well and put aside until the cheese sauce is ready. ( I usually just dump the pasta into the pan I am going to bake it in.) 

Cheese sauce

While the water is heating, in a large saucepan, melt the butter with the bacon fat so you can start your bechemel sauce.

Add ½ cup flour to the pot to make a roux.  Stir the fat and flour together and cook for couple of minutes.  This will cook out any raw flour taste.

While whisking, pour in 4 cups of warmed half and half, whisking to prevent lumps.  (I find that when I use the milk cold from the fridge, the roux seizes up and gets too lumpy to stir into a smooth sauce.)  Also add the hot sauce and the mustard.

Continue to heat and stir over medium until the milk thickens.

Once the sauce thickens, add the cheeses and stir to melt.

Pour the cheese sauce over the pasta and stir.  I like to save a dish and combine the pasta and the sauce in the dish I will be baking it in.

Add the reserved bacon pieces (or what is left of them after everyone walks by and eats some), and stir to combine.

Now it is time to make the delicious crumb topping...mmmm... Idea!!  Some tomato slices would be awsome on this!!

Mix together the ½ cup of panko bread crumbs with 2 or 3 tbsp of bacon fat (or use oil or melted butter).   Use enough to get the bread crumbs damp.   Add the ¼ cup of asiago cheese and the little bit of reserved grated cheese to the bread crumbs.

Sprinkle the top with the bread crumb topping.

Bake in a 350 degree oven until hot, bubbly, and the topping is a nice golden brown.

Winna Winna Chicken Wing Dinna!!

After a busy last half of the week, we are spending a Saturday evening at home watching a movie (and the baseball game).  It is nice to slow things down for the weekend.  I still have to finish my yard work before the snow flies but tonight I am cooking a few tasy favourites and relaxing with the boys!

Now over the past year or two I have been testing different mixtures of coatings to make oven  roasted chicken wings crispy. Wheat flour, corn starch, mixtures of the both, different seasonings...the list goes on! I like using a corn flour and corn starch mixture as it not only makes for a really crispy coating but it is also safe for my gluten free friends!

Tonight however, I tested out the corn starch/corn flour mix and was told they were the best wings I had ever made!  Winner, winner, chicken dinner!!

To make the tastiest oven roasted hot wings ever:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Prepare a baking sheet with either a silicone baking sheet liner or some parchment paper.

 In an extra large zip top freezer bag mix together:

• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1/2 cup corn flour (you can use regular flour or all corn starch but the all the corn products make for a nice crispy coating)
• Note: You can use 1 cup of four if you wish, the wings will still turn out fabulous! 
• 1 tbsp paprika (smoked if you have)
• 1tsp onion powder
• 1tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• pinch each of salt and pepper
• any other seasonings you feel might be tasty (tonight I added some old bay seasoning)

Once these ingredients are all mixed up place in the bag:

• 1 pkg of chicken wings and drumettes rinsed in cold water and patted dry (tonight I used a 1.5 kg package)

Seal the zip top bag and shake things up a bit until all the wings are coated.
Take the wings out of the bag and shake off the excess coating.
Arrange in a single layer on the baking sheet
Bake for 20 minutes and then turn the wings over.
Bake for another 20 minutes.
Turn the broiler on if needed to brown the wings and give them an extra crispy coating.

Just before serving, transfer some wings to a large bowl and douse and toss them with the sauce of your choice.  Anything you have on hand is a viable option such as:

• Frank's redhot sauce (a house favourite)
• BBQ sauce of choice
• Honey garlic sauce
• Teriyaki sauce
• Lemon pepper seasoning

Some things in our house are sacred.  Homemade mac and cheese is one of them.  I don't make it very often but when I do, it is sooooo good.  The start of any home made mac and cheese is the bechemel sauce which gets the addition of cheese.  Making the bechemel sauce is one the first jobs my Mom let me do in the kitchen.  I think she was suprised that I had the patience to stay in the kitchen and keep my eye on the sauce.  I might be weird but I do find something relaxing about watching the sauce thicken as I stir it.

To make mac and cheese:

Put a large pot of water on to boil and boil according to the package instructions for firm pasta:

• 1 lb pkg of elbow macaroni (or any other shaped pasta you have on hand)

In a medium size pot:

• Melt 4 tbsp butter
• Stir in 4 tbsp flour
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• Continue to stir this mixture for 1 or two minutes to cook out any raw flour taste

Add to this mixture (called a roux)

• a couple dashes of hot sauce
• 2 cups of half and half cream (you can use milk but then you risk the milk curdling as it cooks and curdled milk does not make a nice textured sauce!)

Stir/whisk quikly as you add the half and half to keep lumps from forming
Keep the heat on medium and continue to stir fairly often whild it thickens.
You will soon notice the mixture is thick enough to coat a wooden spoon and some thick but slow ripples appear in the pot as you stir.
At this point add and stir at the same time:

• 1 can of evaporated milk

This won't water down the sauce too much and it will thicken again quickly.  I find waiting to add the evaporated milk helps to prevent it from curdling.

You have now made a bechemel sauce!!
To your wonderfull bechemel sauce, add:

• 4 cups of shredded cheese

This is one of those time where you can really play with the recipe!  This can be all chedder, just make sure you use a sharp or old cheddar.  Or you can use any mixture of cheeses you like.  Be creative.  Tonight I used sharp cheddar but that was what I had on hand.  Some cheesy ideas"

• provolone
• mozzarella
• monteray jack
• colby
• havarti
• gouda
• asiago
• parmesan

 Mix the cooked pasta with the cheese sauce and pour into a baking pan.  Make the crumb topping to put on top before you bake:

• Melt 2 tbsp butter and add:
• 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Mix together until the crumbs are all coated in melted butter (add a little olive oil if the crumbs look dry)

Sprinkle the crumbs evenly on the top of the macaroni and cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree F oven until the topping is golden brown (about 30 minutes).