Awesome Macaroni and Cheese

The other night, we all had a feast for the kings. The theme was home cookin' and the results were outstanding. It all was delicious. The fried chicken, the mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans and my personal favorite, blueberry cake (made by Toni!). I contributed macaroni and cheese. I had noticed a recipe for "Fancy Mac" on pioneerwoman.com awhile back and have wanted to prepare, but really never had a good enough reason to prepare a dish with that many calories. Our feast on Monday merited just that. While I used Ree Drummond's wonderful recipe. I did adapt.

Awesome Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

• 4 cups Macaroni
• 8 Tablespoons Butter
  
• 2 whole Medium Onions sliced
  
• 10 slices Bacon
• 1 Tablespoon Bacon Grease
  
• ¼ cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 cups Whole
  
• ½ cups Half-and-Half
• 2 whole Egg Yolks, Beaten
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 4 oz. Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
  
• 4 oz. Grated White Sharp Cheddar Cheese
  
• 4 oz. Grated Monterrey Jack Cheese
  
• 4 ounces Grated Muenster Cheese
  

Preparation Instructions

Cook macaroni completely. Drain and set macaroni aside.

Fry the bacon in a skillet. Drain on paper towels and pour the excess grease into a mug.

I used the same skillet to saute the onions in 4 TBS of butter. After removing the bacon, I poured the grease in a mug and cleaned the skillet.

Using the same pot as the macaroni, I melted 4 TBS. of butter and 1 TBS of bacon grease. Sprinkle in the flour and whisk constantly while cooking for 1 minute over medium heat. I combined the milk and half and half before hand and poured it all in together. Cook until mixture is thick and add salt and pepper.

"Beat egg yolks and drizzle 1/4 cup hot mixture into the yolks, stirring constantly. Stir to combine. Pour egg mixture into sauce and cook for another minute." (Drummond)

Add all the cheeses and stir until melted*. Add bacon and onions. Taste test the mixture, then add the macaroni and stir until well-combined.

Side note - Ree Drummond uses all sorts of fancy cheeses. I went to the store and bought what was on sale. I encourage using any number of whatever cheeses you have on hand.

Side note 2 - She also suggests baking it, but due to time constraints, I did not. All in all, it still turned out fantastic, but it is difficult to mess up melted cheese with bacon and onions. My roommate and I even took some to work the next day for lunch and it was still so delicious re-heated. I high encourage playing around with recipes and deciding what will suite you.

Much thanks to Ree Drummond for this dish! And to Toni for giving us a reason to eat it!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/12/fancy-macaroni/