Thursdays Are For Cooking….
It’s casseroles weather this time of year. The holidays are coming up and you will have leftovers galore, including ham and chicken and turkey and that can be either sliced or diced or just plain nibbled on.
Because I love bacon, this recipe is for bacon mac and cheese. You will need the following items:
2 cups of cooked short pasta. Penne is good for this. Those ridges hold lots of sauce.
1 garlic clove, minced (smashed flat with a spoon)
2 tablespoons of butter
¼ teaspoon of black pepper
2 cups of milk
3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup (or more) or crisp, crumbled, crunchy bacon – I have found LOTS of bacon is good for this, as it is mixed in with the pasta as well as sprinkled on top.
Cook the pasta according to the package directions until it is al dente. Put it in a 2 qt baking pan (line with foil for easy clean-up).
To make the roux base for the cheese sauce, over a very low flame melt the butter in a saucepan, sauté the garlic in it until softened, add flour and pepper, stirring all the while, until the roux is smooth. Then slowly add the milk and stir until it thickens, then add 2 cups of shredded cheese and keep stirring until the cheese is all melted and blended in.
Add half of the bacon and stir into the cheese sauce. Then shut off the heat.
Pour the cheese sauce with bacon over the pasta and give it a mix with your spoon.
Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
Uncover the casserole, sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheese and bacon on the top of the casserole, and bake at 350F for another 5 to 10 minutes.
I don’t see the flour listed, but since the usual ratio of fat to flour in a roux is 1:1, I am assuming 2 tablespoons flour in this recipe.
Ah, thought I put in the quantity. The cheese will thicken too much and you want it kind of thin as a sauce, so no more than two tablespoons of flour for the roux.
My bad, sorry.
My wife adds a whole onion, Vidalia/sweet, chopped, sauteed. Adds a depth of flavor.
Ex;
Printed up the recipe, so how much flour involved. I bought flour for that stove top home bread recipe you had a couple of weeks ago. Had the other half of the 2nd bag of your penny and sausage for lunch today which is worth every cent on the penne.
A roux is based upon the flour molecules exploding and sucking up the fat molecules of the butter and later the milk to be smooth.
In that different brands of butter have different fat content, there is no set amount.
Start small like a couple of tablespoons, wait until the flour heats and then add more as needed. Don’t just dump the flour in one pile. Shake the spoon so it is spread over the melted butter.
If you mess up and add too much flour, just melt more butter or add more milk and bring to temp.
Exactly. With this, since it’s a cheese sauce, you want it thinnish.
And for those who like to cook under pressure…..
Bacon Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
6 strips bacon, chopped
1 pound uncooked macaroni pasta (while Ex-PH2 recommends Penne, we go further with Rotini pasta where the sauce gets caught in the spirals.)
4 cups water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons salt
1 (5-ounce) can evaporated milk
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
8 ounces shredded Gouda cheese
black pepper to taste
Instructions
Add chopped bacon to the Instant Pot and sauté for 8 minutes or until crispy.
Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Turn off the Instant Pot, and add the pasta, water, butter, and salt.
Close and lock the lid and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes cook time
Quick release to vent
Remove lid and stir in the evaporated milk, cheeses and black pepper.
Using the sauté setting, cook for about 4 minutes or until the cheese had melted, stirring frequently.
Stir in bacon and serve warm
Garnish with additional bacon if desired
NOTE: We agree with Toxic Deplorable Racist SAH B Woodman who advocates an onion. We will also, on occasion, add chopped black olives and mushrooms.
Source: https://instantpotcooking.com/instant-pot-bacon-mac-and-cheese/
BAM!!!!!!!!! ON TARGET…FIRE FOR EFFECT!!!!
Glad you got Jeff another pasta dish using the penne. Yes he has gotten his pennies worth out of the sausage one.
Do agree with the adding of a little onyun and some ‘shrooms. Like the idea of the gouda and some olives too. And DON’T be a piker with them bacon rashers. 1/2 cup??? Aw Hells to the naw. Half pound is a good start.
Tanks Matey.
Some days I start with a color theme, or often texture scheme but dry beans are the base line. Depressing as the short days become, an hour in the kitchen can take the ugly aside.
Very particular about crockpot, pressure cookers and Dutch ovens at this time of the season.