Cheeze-IT Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

1 lb cavatrappi noodles, or elbow noodles (cavatrappi are my favorite they are spirally and have grooves which help the cheese and other goodness stick to the noodles)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk (this is different from condensed milk which is sweet)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (if you have white pepper this is preferred)
8 oz cheddar cheese, freshly shredded (about 2 cups)
8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, freshly shredded (about 2 cups)
8 oz Gruyère cheese, freshly shredded (about 2 cups)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 lb thin cut bacon, chopped into small pieces

For toppings

3 cup cheeze-its (extra toasted if available), crushed in bag – less messy
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

Heat the oven to 350°F and spray a 9×13 inch casserole dish (or something similar) with cooking spray. Set aside.
Cook the pasta till al dente, according to the package directions, cooking for one minute less than the directions require. (The pasta will cook more in the oven, do not over cook it!) Drain pasta and rinse with cool water to prevent sticking.
While the noodles cook, pan fry bacon pieces (no need for oil, bacon makes it’s own oil)
Also while the noodles cook, melt the butter in a large skillet. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
Whisk in the milk and evaporated milk till smooth. Add the dijon mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley and black pepper, stirring to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce begins to thicken, about 3 minutes.
Stir in the cheddar cheese and Monterey jack cheese, until melted and smooth. Fold in the noodles and cooked bacon with 1/8 cup of bacon oil. (This can be all mixed in a large bowl in your skillet/pan is not large enough)
Pour half the cheesy noodles into the prepared casserole dish. Then evenly top casserole with half the gruyere cheese. Spread all of the sour cream on top of the gruyere. Add the remaining noodles on top and sprinkle the remaining gruyere cheese over the top.
Combine the crushed cheeze-its and melted butter together in a small bowl. Evenly spread over the cheese layer.
Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until hot and bubbling and the topping is golden brown. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes to set up, enjoy!

Maple Sriracha Chicken Kabobs and Bacon Wrapped Asparagus. (07.03.2016)

Chicken:

Get yourself about 3 medium to large chicken breasts, cut them into cubes large enough to fit neatly on a skewer. 

In a medium to large bowl combine a little over a 1/4 cup of syrup(maple preferably), 1/4 cup of sriracha, 1/4 cup of soil sauce and I also added about a tbsp of sesame oil, then crush about 2 cloves of garlic and add it into the mix. *Note* the measurements can vary depending on the size of the breasts (hehe).

Throw in chicken cubes and let marinate for 20-45 mins if you have the time.

Cut up about 10-12 thick asparagus stalks in half. Like pictured below.

take about 5-6 thick cut pieces of bacon and wrap them around a mixture of half tips half stocks, or be a dick and use all tips for half and all stocks for the other half and give the stocks to someone you don’t like! Use a toothpick (not the plastic ones or frilly designed ones with plastic at the end…if that’s all you have cut that crap off, you don’t want your food tasting like melted plastic) and secure the bacon to the asparagus so it doesn’t come undone. 

They should look something like this…

Grab a drink and take your prepped food out to the grill!

Add another couple sides, I did baked potatoes, grilled pablanos and some grilled corn, which I made into the semi-famous ‘Mexican Street Corn’ (more on that later). 

photo credit: Nick Lush

 

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Meaty Wheels (aka lollipop steaks) [06.03.2016]

Ingredients:

Skirt Steak (flattened)

Bacon (thick cut)

Onions

Skewers or large toothpicks (wooden, not plastic!)

Instructions:

Take a few pounds of skirt steak and beat the shit of them (flatten them), this can be done with a mallet or a rolling pin or anything else that is strong enough to bash a steak down onto a hard surface. 

Cut the skirt steak into pieces about as wide as the bacon you are using (thinner if you are using weak ass skinny bacon and just about the same size if you are using manly thick cut bacon)

Marinate the steak for an hour or so in Ziploc bags with seasoning of your choice. I like Italian dressing and some extra pepper and sea salt

Chop a white onion up into medium sized chucks that will be able to fit in the middle of the steak and bacon party that is about to go down

Grab your bacon and stack the marinated meat and bacon one on top of the other and then place the chopped onion piece at the top of the stack and start rolling down tightly

Stick a large toothpick or skewer through one side to the other and set aside, repeat until you are finished.

Throw those bad boys on the grill on medium heat until the steak has a nice color and stiffness and the bacon is nice and crispy. (You can also cook in the oven on 350 for 15 minutes or so

photo credit – Nick Lush

 

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Kevin’s ‘peno poppers V3 (the best version) [06.01.2016]:

Ingredients: 

Jalapenos (obviously) – 6 to 12 normally does the trick for a med sized group

Bacon – dont buy the cheap stuff! Get a thick cut bacon (he used brown sugar flavored)

Cream Cheese – you can use regular or get fancy and used herb like he did here.

Extra:

toothpicks – these are used to hold those suckers together!

Instructions: 

wash and then core the jalapenos, you want to get the seeds and the veins out otherwise they are gonna be HOT DADDY HOT!

Stuff them fuckers with dat cream cheese

Wrap dem sumbitches in some dank ass bacon

use the toothpicks to hold everything together

grill on medium heat (put a drip pan or maybe even some foil with the edges folded up to catch the grease otherwise you might have a bad time with a grease fire) OR bake them at about 350 for 15-20 minutes depending on how crunchy you want your bacon and peppers

photo credit – Nick Lush

grill master – Kevin