BARRY SAYS: The best thing you can add to macaroni and cheese to make it even better is more cheese. Or a better-quality cheese. But the next best thing might be a good-quality, smoky-flavored porter. Or maybe some really good shiitake mushrooms. Or bacon.
KELLEY SAYS: Well, all of that is true, so I guess we made a perfect mac ‘n’ cheese because we added all of that, though we used pancetta instead of bacon.
BARRY: Go big, right?
KELLEY: I’ve loved mac ‘n’ cheese my whole life. It’s the epitome of comfort food – or at least a good start – and since we are already thinking about Thanksgiving dinner, I wanted to experiment.
BARRY: Issue solved. This was really good. So good, in fact, it served as our main dish, side dish and dessert the day we made it.
KELLEY: It is pretty rich, so I wouldn’t recommend doing that every day. It’s probably better as a side, but it was certainly hearty enough. I got the recipe from a Fine Cooking magazine but, of course, adapted it.
BARRY: It’s what you do. I can’t decide which ingredient was the star. The mushrooms were pretty great, but so were the Gruyère and white cheddar cheeses and the beer. All the flavors came through.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.
Recipe
Mac’d-Up Mac ‘n’ Cheese 4 ounces pancetta, diced 1/2 red onion, diced 5 large, fresh shiitake mushrooms 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided Pepper, to taste 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 (12-ounce) can Carnation evaporated milk 1 cup dark beer (we used a little more and chose a Kalamazoo porter; whatever you choose, it needs to have a smoky flavor) 1 teaspoon ground mustard 4 sprigs fresh thyme 1 1/2 cups Gruyère cheese, grated 3 cups reserve white cheddar, grated 1 pound elbow macaroni 1 cup panko Cook pancetta and drain off grease. Set aside. Wipe out the pan. Sauté onion and mushrooms in 1 tablespoon butter. Set aside. In separate saucepan, melt 1/2 stick butter and few grinds of pepper. Add flour and slowly cook, adding evaporated milk and stirring until somewhat thick. Slowly stir in the beer, mustard and thyme. Add cheese and continue to stir until thick. If too thick, add more beer. Set aside. While pasta is cooking in boiling water, put panko and 1/2 stick melted butter in a small mixing bowl and stir. Once the macaroni is done, drain off the water and add pancetta, mushrooms, onions and sauce to pot. Pour mixture into large, cast-iron pan. Sprinkle panko on top and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool and serve.