Hi everyone, today's my birthday!
Confession...I absolutely adore the blog, The Kitchen Life of a Navy Wife. There is something about the way she blogs, her mannerisms, the photos she takes, and the content of her recipes that makes me want to make everything she does.
And I notice she is on a bit of a mac and cheese quest. I can dig it. So am I.
This one called to me for Football Foodz for some reason and The CEO humored me. But read on to find out he didn't regret it.
I made a half portion of this and we still had two days worth of leftovers. So that's the biggest discrepancy. Also, the original recipe calls it Jalapeño Popper Mac and Cheese and I found the bacon was too overpowering to really taste like a popper. So I just call it OMG!
You'll Need:
1/4 lb bacon (I used the precooked kind from Costco)
1/2 lb elbow macaroni (I used Barilla Plus because it causes less of a carb coma)
1/8 cup butter
1 large jalapeños, minced
1/8 cup flour
a dash of salt
a smaller dash of pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (I did not cut this in half because I love the stuff and wanted the flavor to come through)
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2.5 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
You'll Need To:
Heat the oven to 350. If you have to cook the bacon, do that now. In the meantime, make the pasta to the al dente instructions on le box. Once that's done, melt the first round of butter in a largeish saucepan. Put the jalapeños in the melted butter and saute until they are soft. Then, use a whisk to combine the flour, salt and pepper, and the Worcestershire sauce. Once this is pasty and starting to bubble (and smell good), pour in the milk and bring everything to a boil. Leave at a boil and stir constantly for a minute and then start adding the cheese in batches until both the cheddar and the cream cheese are melted and gooey.
Resist the urge to eat cheese with a spoon. Taste it to make sure the spice is right.
Add the bacon and the pasta to the mixture and again resist the urge to eat it all right then.
Put everything in an appropriately sized baking dish. I used some pyrex because I live for that stuff.
Then, melt the last bit of butter in a sauce pan, add the bread crumbs and get them brown and yummy. Spread them on top of the cheese/bacon/perfection.
Bake everything for 15-20 minutes. Cool. Devour.
I don't know where to begin on this dish. It is perfect. Just amazing. Not greasy, but gooey. Not like a Southern mac and cheese which has egg in it and a different consistency but nothing like our friend Velveeta Shells and Cheese either. The CEO and I argued a bit about whether the bacon made the flavor (my side) or the jalapeños (his side). But either way, this was just incredible.
I can't say enough about how good it is or why you should make it right this very second.
We ate every bit of the leftovers.
NoM!
~ EK
Up Next: The CEO and I make like JT and eat it up at Southern Hospitality
Confession...I absolutely adore the blog, The Kitchen Life of a Navy Wife. There is something about the way she blogs, her mannerisms, the photos she takes, and the content of her recipes that makes me want to make everything she does.
And I notice she is on a bit of a mac and cheese quest. I can dig it. So am I.
This one called to me for Football Foodz for some reason and The CEO humored me. But read on to find out he didn't regret it.
I made a half portion of this and we still had two days worth of leftovers. So that's the biggest discrepancy. Also, the original recipe calls it Jalapeño Popper Mac and Cheese and I found the bacon was too overpowering to really taste like a popper. So I just call it OMG!
You'll Need:
1/4 lb bacon (I used the precooked kind from Costco)
1/2 lb elbow macaroni (I used Barilla Plus because it causes less of a carb coma)
1/8 cup butter
1 large jalapeños, minced
1/8 cup flour
a dash of salt
a smaller dash of pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (I did not cut this in half because I love the stuff and wanted the flavor to come through)
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2.5 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
You'll Need To:
Heat the oven to 350. If you have to cook the bacon, do that now. In the meantime, make the pasta to the al dente instructions on le box. Once that's done, melt the first round of butter in a largeish saucepan. Put the jalapeños in the melted butter and saute until they are soft. Then, use a whisk to combine the flour, salt and pepper, and the Worcestershire sauce. Once this is pasty and starting to bubble (and smell good), pour in the milk and bring everything to a boil. Leave at a boil and stir constantly for a minute and then start adding the cheese in batches until both the cheddar and the cream cheese are melted and gooey.
Resist the urge to eat cheese with a spoon. Taste it to make sure the spice is right.
Add the bacon and the pasta to the mixture and again resist the urge to eat it all right then.
Put everything in an appropriately sized baking dish. I used some pyrex because I live for that stuff.
Then, melt the last bit of butter in a sauce pan, add the bread crumbs and get them brown and yummy. Spread them on top of the cheese/bacon/perfection.
Bake everything for 15-20 minutes. Cool. Devour.
 |
| A view from the side so you can see the bacon in there |
 |
| From the top |
I don't know where to begin on this dish. It is perfect. Just amazing. Not greasy, but gooey. Not like a Southern mac and cheese which has egg in it and a different consistency but nothing like our friend Velveeta Shells and Cheese either. The CEO and I argued a bit about whether the bacon made the flavor (my side) or the jalapeños (his side). But either way, this was just incredible.
I can't say enough about how good it is or why you should make it right this very second.
We ate every bit of the leftovers.
NoM!
~ EK
Up Next: The CEO and I make like JT and eat it up at Southern Hospitality
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