Barb Hines Smoked Mac & Cheese

 Barb Hines Smoked Mac & Cheese

This is rich and delicious, it does not need to be smoked. 

2 TBSP Butter

2TBSP Flour

2 Cups Heavy Cream

1 Pound Extra Sharp Cheddar, shredded

1/2 Pound Monterey Jack, shredded

1 - 2 Tablespoons Hot Sauce

2 Teaspoons All Purpose Seasoning

 

1 Cup Hellman’s Mayo

1 Cup Sour Cream

12 oz Elbow Macaroni Noodles

1/2 Cup Panko

12 oz Thin Sliced Bacon

Prepare pasta Al dente, according to package directions, and set aside.

Grate both cheeses and said the side.

Cook bacon until crispy, we suggest placing in a 400° oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Do you want the bacon to be crispy and not limp. Immediately remove bacon from baking sheet. Allowed to drain on a paper towel. Finally chopped bacon with food processor, and set aside.

In a sauce, pan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of flour over medium heat. Cook until the roux starts smelling a little nutty. At that point add 1/2 cup of the heavy cream and stir until sauce thickens.

Add additional 1/2 cup of heavy cream and stir for 1 to 2 minutes and then add the final one cup of heavy cream and stir until sauce, smooth and thick.

Add grated cheese to sauce, slowly starting until the cheese is blended, and the sauce is smooth and creamy. At 1 to 2 tablespoons of your favorite hot sauce, depending on the heat level, you desire. I use 1 tablespoon but sometimes skip it completely.

Mixed together, pasta, sauce, mayo, and sour cream, then pour into an oven, safe dish. You can make this using a 13 inch cast iron skillet. If it has been oiled season of sprayed, with a good nonstick spray, be very sure not to overfill.

Mix 1/2 cup of Panko with the chopped bacon and top macaroni and cheese with this mixture.

At this point you can smoke the macaroni and cheese at 350° for one hour or until it becomes hot and bubbly. Make sure to check halfway through the cooking time because smokers and grills vary.  You can also bake it in your oven. If it is getting too dark, cover with foil and continue cooking.

If a darker crust is desired for your mac & cheese, place skillet under the broiler 4 inches from the heat until the top is golden bubbly usually 3 to 4 minutes serve immediately. 

Barb Hine’s Chocolate Pie

 Delicious - had this tonight at a friend’s - can’t taste the tofu- it’s very silky

This pie is so chocolatey that it’s a little too rich for me. Some whipped cream on the side to cut the richness definitely helps.

The tofu you use is important. For this I use silken tofu, the nonrefrigerated kind that can be found on a shelf in the international aisle of grocery stores (Mori-Nu is a common brand). I’m not sure why, but something about the shelf-stability of it makes it taste like nothing at all, making it a perfect vehicle for absorbing chocolatey goodness. The silken tofu you find in the refrigerated section, however, has more of a tofu taste. Maybe it has something to do with freshness? I couldn’t tell you.

But if all you can find is the refrigerated kind, that’s okay. I have used refrigerated silken tofu for this before and it came out fine–I just had to use the original amount of chocolate (13 ounces instead of 12) to make up for it. So keep that in mind as you make this.

Something the recipe doesn’t warn you about is seizing. As we all know, melted chocolate seizes if it even thinks about water. And this recipe has us adding silken tofu–a wet thing–to melted chocolate. I have had this seize up on me before, but don’t worry if it happens. I just kept blending it. After a few minutes the blender sorted it all out and the mixture was back to being smooth and creamy.

CHOCOLATE PIE  - Barb Hines 

10 OUNCES OF GOOD QUALITY CHIPS THAT ARE 60% COCOA

MELTED

Measure the following into a cup, then add to the melted chocolate

1/3 CUP KAHLÚA

12 OUNCES OF SILKEN TOFU LIGHT - in blender

1 tablespoon honey or agave

1 tablespoon Vanilla 

Mix well, and pour into a crumb crust, refrigerate and garnish as you like - a graham cracker or a pecan crust would be good. Original recipe called for an Oreo crust  ~ that’s too much chocolate.