Burnin’ Love Habanero Mac And Cheese

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cook pasta until “almost” aldente. Crumble cooked bacon.

In a large bowl, toss together pasta with the Habanero cheese and pour into the baking dish. In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, and sour cream, egg, crumbled bacon, heavy cream and half-and-half. Pour over the pasta and cover with shredded Cheddar. Bake uncovered until top is just beginning to brown, about 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a skillet over medium heat, melt butter, panko and toast until golden. Sprinkle on top of the macaroni and cheese and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes more.

Enjoy.

Chef's Note & Story

I love Mac & Cheese, always have. Even that scary Chernobyl-orange stuff in the box…love it!

Mac & Cheese was our comfort food (and, at 10 cents a box, sometimes our only food) when I was a kid.

Now, of course, I’m old enough to understand that it’s also a nearly-ideal complement for that most perfect of cuisines…barbeque.

So, when a friend posted about having tried a Habanero Pepperjack Cheese from Tillamook Cheese (right here in God’s country), my first thought was, “Holy crap…that would make a killer mac and cheese!”

And, sure enough, it did.

Just enough fire to earn your respect, without losing any of its creamy wonderfulness, here’s the recipe we came up with. A scoop of this, and a dollop of pulled pork between two slices of white bread, and you just might have a perfect meal.

For more of my favorite recipes, on and off the grill, visit: www.burninloveblog.com