CHIPOTLE BACON MAC-N-CHEESE

Who doesn't love a good piece of thick hickory smoked bacon? But have you ever had bacon that's been "cured  for eight days in pink curing  salt and heavy duty brown sugar made with real molasses?" If you haven't you've got to check out  Bill E's Bacon. I have to say, I am super proud to be using this home state bacon in my World Food Championships Taste of America recipe contest entry. Keep scrolling if you want to know more about how I created my Chipotle Bacon Mac-N-Cheese dish!

PREPARE: Prepare macaroni noodles per package direction 

CUT: Strips of bacon into 1 1/2" pieces. Drizzle large skillet with olive oil and cook bacon until crisp. 

DRAIN: Cooked bacon on paper towels. 

 GREASE: Leaving just enough grease to lightly coat the bottom of the pan, pour excess bacon grease out of the skillet and sauté garlic and red onions until tender.

CREAMY: Add heavy cream to the skillet.  While using a whisk to stir, bring heavy cream to a light boil. Add in cheese and stir until smooth.

SEASON: Mix in onion powder, garlic powder and black pepper. Mix in cilantro and mustard. Stir until evenly incorporated.

FOLD: Macaroni noodles into cheese sauce until noodles are evenly coated.

BACON: Add in cooked bacon pieces and  gently mix until evenly distributed.

FINISH: Garnish with  sliced green onion and serve!

CHIPOTLE BACON MAC-N-CHEESE

Ingredients

2 cups of Large Macaroni Noodles

Olive Oil

5 Slices of  Bill-E’s Bacon

1 clove of garlic minced

1/3 cup of red onion thinly sliced

1 1/2  cups of heavy cream

1½ cups of  Finely Shredded Italian Cheese Mix

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp cracked black pepper

1 tbsp cilantro

1 tsp *chipotle mustard 

Directions

1. Prepare macaroni noodles per package direction

2. Cut strips of bacon into 1 1/2" pieces. Drizzle large skillet with olive oil and cook bacon until crisp. Drain cooked bacon on paper towels. 

3. Leaving just enough grease to lightly coat the bottom of the pan, pour excess bacon grease out of the skillet and sauté garlic and red onions until tender.

4. Add heavy cream to the skillet.  While using a whisk to stir, bring heavy cream to a light boil. Add in cheese and stir until smooth.

6. Mix in onion powder, garlic powder and black pepper. Mix in cilantro and mustard. Stir until evenly incorporated.

7. Fold macaroni noodles into cheese sauce until noodles are evenly coated.

8. Add in cooked bacon pieces and  gently mix until evenly distributed.

9. Garnish with  sliced green onion and serve!

*For this recipe I used Saucy Mama Chipotle Mustard
Bill- E's Bacon was provided for review and required for recipe entry. Review is reflective of my own opinion after use of product!