FOODIE FRIDAY#11 - 🍺Beer & Bacon🥓 Mac & Cheese🧀

Happy Friday, foodies!

I don't know how the weather has been where you all are, but around here, in the "Great White North" spring has decided to be a bit of a cold, hard bitch. (If you'll pardon the expression.) Every time we get a day of sunshine, and start to get our hopes up that she's decided to come around, the clouds come back, and we're back to being soaked and miserable. Ok, so enough complaining, but I really am getting to a point here... when the weather is cold and dreary, there's something about a plateful of hearty comfort food that makes us feel a little better. And, I've noticed I tend to share a lot of rich, and probably not-so-healthy food with you guys, but I want to note that this is definitely not how we eat every day; believe me, we eat our share of salad, and lighter fare. It's just that it's the stuff that's so tasty and satisfying that I feel it needs to be shared. 😁

So that brings me to today's post. Macaroni and cheese is something that most people love to begin with. I think most of our moms have a special way that they prepared it when we were kids (at least here in North America), my mom included. And hers was always a nice treat. But, as is my way, I just had to play around and amp up the flavor factor by about 1000. Enter the bacon. And, if that's not enough, I thought, what else goes well with bacon and cheese, and gives us another layer of comfort? Enter the beer. Of course, if beer is not your thing, you could totally omit it, and you'll still wind up with something delicious. I just like to take things a little over the top. And when it's something that you only make on a rare occasion, seeking that warmed-on-the-inside feeling, why not just go a little crazy? Sure, you might need to spend an extra day or 2 at the gym, but I promise it'll be totally worth it. 😉

These Food Blog posts are image heavy!

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Ok, so the first thing we're going to need for our Beer & Bacon Mac & Cheese is the bacon. (Well, I suppose the first thing is the pasta - but that just needs a quick trip through some salted boiling water, then drain and set aside for later.) Chop the bacon into cubes, and render it down. I love using my cast iron dutch oven for this, as it conducts the heat beautifully, AND I can pop it into the oven once everything is together, rather than dirtying another dish... less dishes is always a good thing, in my book!!! I've used our homemade bacon, which obviously not everyone has, but I'm sure a local butcher shop would be a close second. (I'll be sure to make a post about our bacon soon.)

Once your bacon is rendered, and starting to brown, add in some diced onion, and garlic. I used some roasted garlic, which hubby did up on the smoker. Flavor double-whammy! When you're using roasted garlic, the easiest way to break it down is to actually smash/scrape it down with the side edge of your knife. This makes it into a sort of paste, which blends beautifully into whatever you're cooking. If, however, you don't have any roasted garlic, feel free to use some minced fresh garlic!

Allow the onions to soften and become transparent before moving on.

The next step is making the roux. (Flour and fat cooked together to thicken the sauce.) Our bacon wasn't especially fatty, so I added in a bit of butter. Bonus: even more flavor! If you don't have enough fat for the flour to adhere to, it'll be too dry, cause lumps, and things won't come together properly. You don't want that. So, add in a couple tablespoons of butter, if your pan is looking a bit dry, and then add in your flour.

Give that a good stir, coating everything in the pot, and cook the flour for a couple minutes. You don't want the flour to burn, but you do want to let it get a slight amount of color. Again, flavor! Plus, no one likes tasting flour in their cheese sauce.

Now it's time to add some liquid.In this case, milk. You'll want to go slow, so you can scrape the bottom and get all those tasty morsels, so you can make sure everything is mixed, without lumps, and so you don't make a giant mess. Add a little at first, and while it's bubbling like crazy, scrape the bottom. If it starts to thicken a lot, add a bit more, and continue to scrape and stir.

Once all the brown bits are scraped off, and the sauce is not super thick, you can go ahead and add the rest of your milk and the beer! I used a pale ale from a somewhat local brewery. (Same province, different city.) I wanted to use something that had enough flavor that I'd still be able to taste it, against the strong flavors of the bacon and cheese, without being overpowering, and it did not disappoint!

After all the liquid has been added, it's time to season it up. I added a bit of dried thyme, fresh ground pepper, and our homemade smoked garlic salt (I keep some regular sea salt in our spice drawer for baking, but this stuff is in our salt grinder, and gets used on virtually everything else).

Next is the cheese. I always like to use a mixture of cheeses. Sometimes I'll add some smoked gouda, or pepper jack, but this time I used some aged white cheddar for flavor, some mozzarella for that chewy, stringy texture, and some parmigiano reggiano for the salty, umami flavor.

Give that a stir through, to make sure it's all melted and blended in, before stirring in the pre-cooked macaroni.

Now, one last trick, before popping it into the oven. What's mac & cheese without that crispy crunchy topping?! My mom always used buttery crackers, smashed into crumbs, then topped with cheese. And I like to do something similar. But, again, with even more flavor. So I mix a few different kinds of crackers together, and smash those into crumbs. Sometimes I'll add some panko to the mix, but opted not to this time. Pop them into a ziplock bag, and give them a smash, using a rolling pin, skillet, bottom of a bottle, or whatever you have on hand. I had a glass jar full of sea glass. 😄

Pour those crumbs evenly across the top, and then sprinkle on the rest of the cheese. (More mozza and parm.)

Slide that baby into the oven to get golden and bubbly. See you in a half hour!

When it's done, take it out and allow it to rest for at least 5-10 minutes before serving. This will make the scooping much easier, and much less of a soupy mess. (I'm pretty sure we've all been there.)

The result is a smooth, gooey, chewy inside, with a bit of a crispy crunchy topping, for a beautiful mix of textures and punch of flavor in every bite.

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling warmer already. 😊

What's your favorite comfort food?