Beer Cheese Mac and Cheese

FOUND IT: This one is my own creation - concocted from a combination of a mac and cheese recipe from my mom and my Beer Cheese Soup recipe.

I recently realized somewhat suddenly that I've included a fair number of recipes here, but not my original mac and cheese recipe, the one that started my fascination with homemade mac and cheese. It's also the filling in my Mac and Cheese stuffed meatloaf. And now, it's going to be the 50th recipe on this site. That seems fitting, somehow.

Ingredients:

1 lb sharp cheddar, shredded
1 cup milk
1/2 cup beer
6 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons of butter, cut into small chunks
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
salt and pepper
Your favorite pasta - I use Dreamwell's elbows, as they're a little healthier.

Warm the milk and beer over medium heat until they're just threatening to boil. While you're waiting for that to warm up, boil your pasta in a large pot. Once it's tender, drain it and set it aside.

Meanwhile, whisk the flour into the milk mixture, then add all the other ingredients except the cheese. Once the butter melts, stir the mixture until it starts to thicken (if you can drag a silicon spatula across the bottom of the pan and see the bottom before liquid fills in, you're there), then add cheese. Stir until the sauce is thick and all the cheese has melted, then set it aside.

Combine the pasta with the cheese sauce, and enjoy.

Beer Cheddar Soup

FOUND IT: At Cooks.com

I modified this recipe on 9/24/2011 to add and adjust some ingredients and change the cheese sauce process a bit.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup bacon, diced
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped bell pepper (I prefer red, green works)

4 cloves garlic
3 cups chicken broth or stock
1 can of beer (12 oz)
4 cups milk
1 lb sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2/3 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute bacon in a large soup pot until crisp, and set aside on a paper towel. In the bacon drippings, saute the vegetables and garlic until the onions are transparent. Add stock and beer to pot and heat to boiling. Then reduce it to a simmer and cook until vegetables are tender, roughly 20-25 minutes.

While the vegetables are cooking, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat and melt the butter. Once the butter has melted add the flour, whisking the two together and letting the flour brown for 2 minutes or so. Whisk in the milk next, then the dry mustard and hot sauce and heat to near boiling. Once this mixture is hot, add the cheese and stir until it melts.

Add the cheese mixture to the soup pot. Use an immersion blender at this point (or a regular blender in shifts) to puree it down to a smooth texture. Season the soup to taste and heat it to desired serving temperature. Garnish with the bacon.

This recipe makes about six servings.