Cheeseburger Mac Casserole

Summer is in full swing and I am still somehow making time to cook! I figure everybody has a recipe like this in their repertoire in one form or another. It's basically Hamburger Helper, but I don't need any help from some freakish sentient glove.

There's a little nightmare fuel for you.

Anyway, this recipe is super easy and is perfect for a quick midweek meal. It makes a lot, but maybe it just felt that way since there's only three of us and The Spud would prefer to live on Cocoa Pebbles cereal and powdered donuts, if that's at all convenient. As always, notes are in blue.

Cheeseburger Mac Casserole

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 lb. macaroni
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 can 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 can 7 ounces sliced mushrooms, drained (or you can use about a half pound of fresh, whatever floats your boat)
• 1 can 10.5 ounces cheddar cheese soup
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1-2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup shredded pepperjack cheese (if you don't like pepperjack, cheddar would work great)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F (190C, Gasmark 5)
2. In a pan heat the oil. Add the ground beef, mushroom, and onion. Cook until meat is browned. Drain any excess oil.
3. Cook macaroni according to directions. Stop a minute or so early since this is going into the oven eventually and will keep cooking.
4. In a large bowl or pot, combine the macaroni, meat mixture, garlic powder, Worcestershire, tomatoes, and cheese soup. Mix well to incorporate.
5. Spread mixture into a greased 9x13" baking dish. Top with shredded cheese.
6. Cook in oven for about 20 minutes or until cheese on top is bubbly and starting to brown in spots.

BONUS: enjoy a video of this exact recipe via the Tubez!

Good times!

Slow Cooker Spicy Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon

     When I was a kid, macaroni and cheese was something that came out of a box. It used powder and milk and butter. That was it. That was the only way I knew it. Eventually, I was introduced to the mac & cheese that had the pack of liquid cheese. It wasn't until years into my marriage that I discovered you could make mac & cheese without it coming out of a box. I also learned you could have meat other than hot dogs mixed in to it. This particular recipe is proof humble mac & cheese doesn't have to be boring. It's got all sorts of good things going on. It's got plenty of cheese. It's got bacon. It's got a spicy kick. It's definitely some solid comfort food. 

Slow Cooker Spicy Macaroni & Cheese
with Bacon

Ingredients

• 4 cups elbow macaroni
• 1/4 pound bacon
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 can (10 ounces) diced tomatoes with jalapeno peppers, undrained
• 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup milk
• 8 ounces shredded Mexican cheese
• 4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup Louisiana Hot Wing Sauce (or hot sauce of choice. Or leave the hot sauce out if you're a big baby)

Directions

• Cook the pasta according to the directions, but take the pasta out about 2 minutes earlier than the package says. Drain and mix the butter in with the pasta.
• Dice bacon and cook in a pan until the bacon is browned and starting to get crispy. Drain and set on a paper towel to soak up excess grease.
• In a large bowl, throw in the pasta and the rest of the ingredients. Dump it all into a slow-cooker greased with non-stick cooking spray (as always, just coat the bowl of the slow-cooker. Coating the entire slow-cooker isn't going to do you any good)
• Cook on HIGH for 3 hours
• NOTE: If you don't want to use a slow cooker, you could probably get away with putting it in a greased baking dish and into an oven preheated at 375F (190C, Gasmark 5) for about 30-40 minutes. I've not tried that, so keep an eye on it if you do it in the stove!

Good Times!

Monday Recipe: Macaroni & Cheese Stuffed Meatloaf

     Ah, meatloaf. The quintessential middle-class dinner. Basically a slab of baked ground beef. My parents used to make a wicked good meatloaf. Naturally, they had no actual recipe. They just threw a bunch of stuff in a bowl and mashed it around with their hands. Then they'd put it in a loaf pan and bake it. They'd top it with a little barbecue sauce and cheese and there you had it. Dinner was served!
     I still do fundamentally the same thing when I make meatloaf. However, last Friday was different. The wife and I were discussing dinner options and meatloaf came up. She enjoys my meatloaf quite a bit and said I should make it. I suggested mac & cheese as a side. Then it hit me. A stroke of genius unlike any other. I would put the mac & cheese IN the meatloaf!

Even Relativity Theory pales in comparison

     The wife raved. People on Facebook raved. I was moderately impressed. Esteemed ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...

Macaroni & Cheese Stuffed Meatloaf

Ingredients
For Macaroni & Cheese

• 1 5.5 ounce box macaroni & cheese mix
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3/4 cup shredded colby-jack cheese

For Meat

• 2 pounds 80/20 ground beef
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce, plus another 1/4 cup reserved
• 3/4 cup shredded colby-jack cheese, reserved

Directions

For Macaroni and Cheese

1. Cook pasta according to directions, drain and return to pot
2. Add contents of cheese packet, butter, cream and shredded cheese, stir until all ingredients are melted and incorporated. 
3. Set pot aside

For Meat

This is what you should have
at step #4

1. Preheat oven to  375F. Put a crappy cookie sheet on the bottom rack to catch the inevitable drippings.
2. In a large bowl, add meat, onion, bread crumbs, and 1/4 cup barbecue sauce. Mix well with hands. Yes, your hands. This is how it's done. Stop being a baby and get in there.
3. In a loaf pan, put a layer of meat (about 1/2") on the bottom. Then take more meat and use it to build walls. You should end up with a trench in the middle. It should look like bathtub made of meat. 
4. Fill the trench with as much of the mac & cheese mixture that you can. Don't go above the top of the pan. Feel free to eat any of the leftover mac & cheese as you cook. That's what we did. At this point, things should look like the picture above.
5. Cover the mac & cheese with the last of the meat. Pat it down. 
6. Put in the oven for about 40 minutes. You're going to need to take it out a couple of times and drain the fat. If you have one of those fancy meatloaf pans (as seen on TV!) it will be much easier. Otherwise, use a wooden spatula to hold the meatloaf in place while you tip the pan to drain the fat. Be careful to not let the top of the meatloaf break off. You'll have to drain the fat a couple of times during the cooking.
7. After 40 minutes, take out and spread remaining barbecue sauce over the top of the meatloaf. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the barbecue sauce. Return to oven until cheese is melted, about 10-15 more minutes.
8. Remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes before serving. Be extremely careful if you're going to take it out of the pan before slicing. You may want to use two spatulas and come at it from both ends. Cut gently with a large knife. I used my big bread slicer.

Good times!

Recipe Monday: Macaroni & Cheese with Worcestershire and Mustard (via Bon Appetit)

     I posted a picture of this recipe on my Facebook page and it was fairly well received by both of the people who follow it. I found this recipe in Bon Appetit and decided it would be perfect for the shindig I hosted last Friday. I made a couple of small changes and it turned out wonderfully. I added a cup of diced ham.  As always, changes to the recipe will be highlighted in blue.
     I was expecting super gooey mac and cheese and ended up with something more akin to a casserole. It is rich and dense enough that it can stand on its own as an entree. Most importantly, it is super easy to make. I doubled this recipe with no issues.

Macaroni & Cheese with Worcestershire and Mustard
(via Bon Appetit)

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound small elbow macaroni (about 2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 2 1/2 cups (packed) grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (10 ounces)
• 2 5-ounce cans evaporated milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (I used a tablespoon)
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 cup diced ham

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish. 
2. Cook macaroni in medium pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. 
3. Drain macaroni and place in large bowl. Add butter and toss until melted. Mix in 2 cups cheddar cheese (and ham, if using)
4. Beat milk, eggs, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and cayenne pepper in medium bowl to blend. 
5. Stir egg mixture into macaroni. Transfer to prepared dish; sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese over.
6. Bake macaroni until golden on top and set in center, about 1 hour.