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.

Black bean meatloaf with mac and cheese filling

FOUND IT: This one is my creation.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground meat (I use venison, beef will work)
1 15 oz can of black beans, rinsed
1 1/2 cups of bread crumbs
2 eggs
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper

For the mac and cheese:
1/2 lb sharp cheddar, shredded
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup beer
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons of butter, cut into small chunks
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1/2 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper
Half a box of pasta or so. Probably a little less.

To make the mac and cheese part, warm the milk and beer over low-medium heat, and add all the other ingredients except the cheese and pasta. Once the butter melts, stir it until it starts to thicken, then add cheese. Stir until the sauce is thick and all the cheese has melted, then set it aside. Boil pasta until it's done, strain, and combine.

Combine all the meatloaf ingredients in another bowl. Grease a loaf pan, divide your meat mixture in half and put half into the bottom of the loaf pan. Cover that with the mac and cheese, then shape the remaining meatloaf to cover the mac and cheese. Bake at 350 for half an hour. Let it chill for a few minutes before serving it.

Chocolate crepes with peanut butter and banana filling

FOUND IT: It's loosely based on my homemade manicotti recipe, and the peanut butter part of the filling is from an Ina Garten recipe.

Ingredients:

Crepes:

3 eggs
1 cup milk
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla

(You can also use this recipe to make regular crepes if you remove the cocoa, or use it to make homemade manicotti if you remove the vanilla too and add some italian seasonings.)

Filling:

World Market has an awesome Dark Chocolate spread. Use that if you can get it. If you can't, Nutella should work too.
2 bananas, sliced thin
Peanut butter frosting

Here's the pb frosting recipe:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup milk, maybe a little less.

To make the crepes, beat the eggs with the milk. Then add all the other ingredients and whisk it until you have no more lumps. Spray a small frying pan over medium-low heat and pour 1/4 cup of the batter into it, tilting the pan around to cover as much space as possible. Cook them about 30-45 seconds on one side, then flip and cook about 15 seconds on the other. Then spray the pan and repeat. Set the crepes aside on a plate. This recipe will make about nine of them.

To make the peanut butter frosting, place the sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in a bowl and mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the milk and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Then, take a crepe, make a stripe of chocolate spread down the middle, place 5 slices of banana on top of that, and some frosting on top of that. Roll them up and enjoy.