Bacon Cheddar Macaroni Cheese Recipe 465

Steps:

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook for 8 to 9 minutes, until al dente. Drain.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a small saucepan heat the milk with the thyme sprigs and 2 garlic cloves. Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, to keep lumps from forming. Strain the solids out of the milk and whisk it into the butter and flour mixture. Continue to whisk vigorously, and cook until the mixture is nice and smooth. Stir in the 4 cups of the cheese and continue to cook and stir to melt the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked macaroni and the parsley and fold that all in to coat the macaroni with the cheese mixture. Scrape into a 3-quart baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
• While that bakes, heat a saute pan. Add the bacon, render the fat and cook until crispy. Add onion, garlic and thyme leaves and cook for about 5 minutes to soften the onion. Season with salt and pepper.
• To serve, scatter the bacon mixture over the mac and cheese. Use a big spoon to scoop out servings, making sure you get some of the smoking bacon mixture on each spoonful.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat 2 baking dishes with the butter.
• Place chopped bacon on a baking sheet and cook in oven until half cooked, about 10 minutes. Drain off excess grease, reserve bacon.
• In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook elbow macaroni until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Strain, toss lightly in olive oil, reserve.
• In a saucepan, on medium-high heat, saute bacon with a light amount of olive oil. Add the onion and cook until translucent then add the garlic. Dust with flour, whisk in milk, cream, nutmeg, and mustard powder. Bring to simmer stirring constantly for several minutes. Whisk in 4 cups of Cheddar and half a cup of Parmesan. Stir until all the cheese is melted. Adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Fold in the pasta, sage and parsley.
• Place into buttered baking dishes. Top with remaining cheeses and place dishes on baking tray and place in the oven. Bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool about 5 minutes, garnish with parsley and sage leaves and serve!

Steps:

• Bring a medium (6- to 8-quart) pot of water to a boil. Salt it generously (it should taste like the sea). Stir in the pasta and cook according to the package directions. Drain (but don't rinse, or you'll rinse away starches that will help thicken the sauce) and return to the empty pot. Meanwhile, place a large (12- to 14-inch) sauté pan over high heat for several minutes. When hot, add the bacon and sauté until browned and crispy (lower the heat to medium-high if necessary to prevent scorching), about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and, using a slotted spoon or spatula, remove the bacon from the pan and drain on paper towels. Pour off the fat from the pan (into a metal can or heatproof cup, not down the drain or you'll potentially clog your pipes) and return the pan to medium-high heat. Add the heavy cream and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat to medium and continue to simmer until the cream is reduced slightly, about 3 minutes. Add the Cheddar cheese and bacon. Stir well and cook over medium-high heat, stirring now and then, until the cheese has melted and the mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper. Stir the sauce into the cooked and drained pasta in the pot. Place over medium heat and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes to thicken the sauce and allow the pasta to absorb the flavors, stirring now and then. Serve in individual bowls topped with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of sliced scallions. Variation: Lorraine Mac & Cheese: You can easily change up this recipe by using the classic flavors of a quiche Lorraine for inspiration. You just have to add caramelized onions and substitute Swiss cheese for the Cheddar. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons grease from the cooked bacon. Add 2 cups of finely sliced yellow onions and sauté over medium heat until soft, brown, and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Pour in the 3 cups of cream and continue with the recipe (step 3), substituting firmly packed shredded Gruyère or Swiss cheese for the Cheddar. If you have cooked, crumbled bacon and caramelized onions on hand, the recipe is even easier. When stirring the cheese into the reduced cream, just add 1 cup bacon crumbles and 1⁄2 cup caramelized onions, too. Then proceed with the recipe. Love Notes: At Mother's, we prepare a lot of our components in large batches ahead of time, like the bacon crumbles in this recipe. It's a real time-saver, and a good idea for home cooks, too. To make things easier, try fitting the work into a recipe you're already cooking, like this one. That way you're not getting pots and pans dirty just for the heck of it. For example, cook twice the amount of bacon and save the rest in the fridge or freezer for salads, scrambles, or sandwiches. Dicing slippery, floppy bacon is tough-unless you firm it up with a 10- to 15-minute stint in the freezer. Stack the strips to make the job go even faster. Avoid pre-shredded cheese. It may seem like a time-saver, but much of the cheese's flavor has dissipated, and the starchy coating on the outside will interfere with the sauce.

Steps:

• Cook bacon until crisp. Remove from skillet and crumble (discard bacon fat).
• Heat broiler. In a large straight-sided, oven-safe skillet, melt butter. Remove 1 tablespoon butter and combine with breadcrumbs and Parmesan.
• Whisk in flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Very gradually whisk in milk and bring to a simmer. Add macaroni and cook, stirring constantly and scraping bottom of pan, until tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in remaining cheese and the bacon and mustard, and season with salt and pepper. Top with breadcrumb mixture and broil until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Cook macaroni as directed on package. Meanwhile, melt butter in large saucepan on low heat. Stir in flour; cook 2 min. or until bubbly. Gradually stir in milk; cook on medium heat until mixture comes to boil, stirring constantly. Simmer on low heat 3 to 5 min. or until thickened. Add 1-1/2 cups cheese; cook and stir 5 min. or until melted.
• Drain macaroni. Add to sauce with bacon; mix lightly. Spoon into 1-1/2-qt. casserole; top with remaining cheese.
• Bake 20 min. or until heated through.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the biscuit mix, milk, oil and egg just until moistened. Fold in cheese and bacon. Fill greased muffin cups three-fourths full. , Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers.