BBQ'd Banger Mac

I literally grew up eating mac and cheese. I ate it so often that my mom would get creative with the ingredients to make sure I had a well balanced meal.  My favorite as a little munchkin was mac and cheese with hot dogs. So tasty! Now that I am grown and much more mature (no giggling) I have moved on to delicious bbq'd sausage in my mac. 

Hubby hubbs was bbq'ing chicken for dinner so I offered to create a smashing side dish. Obviously I meant delicious mac.  I used orecchiette noodles.  They are perfect for mac because they cup your ingredients nicely so you get an array of flavors in each bite. Success.

I sauteed some onions and jalapenos,

Don't you love my new bowls?

Added some horseradish mustard and a dash of chili oil for spice, and

 

 Included a very large handful of Mexican cheese which includes Monterey Jack, Cheddar, and Asadero cheeses.  This is an exact measurement.

Finally, I added the spicy chipotle bangers.  Perfectly bbq'd bangers to be exact. 

 Mix it all together, bake it at 400 degrees until bubbling to perfection, and then consume immediately!

 Even little Lola was pleased by this mac.

Doesn't she look like an owl here?

Enjoy!

Beachwood BBQ Should Stick with the BBQ

One of hubbs' fav dining spots is Beachwood BBQ. He mostly likes it because it has a terrific variety of delicious micro brews.

After a quick bike ride down to Beachwood BBQ, we ordered a couple of beers, our usual fried pickles (magestic), a pulled pork sandwich and contemplated trying something new. That is when we noticed mac and cheese.  Not sure if this is new to the menu or if I have simply indulged in too much beer on all of my prior visits because I don't remember seeing it on the menu before.

Beachwood BBQ's Baked M&C boasts ingredients including green onion, bacon, chilies, beer, and Gruyere.

Sounds majestic. Well, sadly, it is not. The first bite was bland.  I added some salt. Better, but not brilliant.  Next, I made a concoction of Beachwood BBQ's sauces: hot sauce, sweet sauce and mustard.  It was pretty tasty when doused in random sauces.  But, I am a purist and prefer my mac non-doused.

My advise: stick to the beer.