I feel like I have abandoned my beer blog, however I have not abandoned beer! I will be documenting my honeymoon (aka beer tour of the pacific north west) in the next few days. For now, however, I will start back off with my really amazing (and amazingly easy) recipe for Mac ‘n’ Beer cheese. A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to get a day off and drove to the Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, aside from having amazing beer and wonderful taste in architectural design, Stone’s new location has a fantastic beer garden and restaurant. According to my sister-in-law I can take Mac ‘n’ cheese to new heights whether it be with seafood or Chorizo I can take you around the world with a bowl of Mac, and that’s exactly what Stone did here with their IPA Mac ‘n’ beer cheese.I have made this recipe several times with several different kinds of beer; I have used Newcastle, Fat Tire, Stone IPA, Stone Ruination, and Guinness (which I don’t really recommend a stout for this it tastes…well…silly.) Another thing to note is the kind of mac ‘n’ cheese you use. If you use the boxed kind that you need to add milk and butter to I recommend omitting the milk and substituting it with the beer of your choice. For the best consistency I recommend using either the preprepared cheese sauce or making it from scratch (I like Alton Brown’s recipe using evaporated milk)
What you will need:
2 boxes(about 16 oz) mac ‘n’ cheese of your choice
1 kielbasa sliced thinly
1c. Beer of your choice (any ale will work perfectly or Belgium, I’d stay away from porters or stouts)
Rosemary
Garlic
Half an onion (diced)
2 tbs of butter
1c. Asiago or parmesan grated
What to do:
Cook your pasta ( boil to al dente or however you like it)
Drain Pasta add olive oil or butter to keep it from sticking to itself.
Sauté half an onion and add one whole kielbasa to the sauté.
Add Onion and sausage mixture to the pasta and then add the cheese mix (if using Alton’s recipe add the sausage to the sauce when you’re making the sauce)
Add one cup of beer to the cheese mix and half the amount of milk asked for on the box (in Alton’s recipe omit 2 oz of milk and replace with beer)
Mix together over very low heat and add rosemary, garlic, and the extra cheese (Alton’s doesn’t need the extra cheese since it’s in the recipe).
Cover, turn off heat and let it sit for about 5 minutes (to cool down, but also because things still cook after you’ve turned off the heat)
Serve and enjoy with your favorite beer!
Stay tuned, I will be reviewing my wedding and honeymoon beer exploits soon!
