Summer Cuisine

Summer is coming up soon meaning pool parties, cookouts, and making memories with some of your closest friends and family. Celebrates summer by gathering some of your friends and family for the ultimate backyard barbecue. Food including hotdogs and hamburgers are essential main courses that are needed for an amazing cookout by the pool. With having such an amazing main course, you can not forget about the sides that go along with it. There are an endless amount of sides that you see at cookouts from chips and salsa to chile con queso, these are all mouth-watering sides but one that is definitely a favorite is bacon mac and cheese. This is a simple yet tasty side to the main course requiring minimal steps to make.

When preparing to make the mouth-watering, bacon mac and cheese, you need quite a lot of ingredients to make this dish tasty. These ingredients include 1 lb. elbow macaroni or other short pasta, 2 tbsp. olive oil, leeks, kosher salt, Pepper, clove garlic, 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 c. whole milk, 4 oz. low-fat cream cheese, 1/4 tsp. freshly grated or ground nutmeg, tsp. cayenne, 8 oz. extra-sharp Cheddar, 8 oz. Gruyère, slice bacon, 1 c. fresh bread crumbs and, 1/2 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley. Now that you’ve got all of your ingredients it is time to put it all together and follow the directions. 

The directions include five easy steps and then the dish is ready to be put on the table for friends and family to enjoy. First, Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Oil a shallow 3-quart baking dish or six 2-cup ramekins. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Second, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the leeks, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until very tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the leek mixture and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Third, Whisk in the milk and bring to a simmer. Whisk in the cream cheese, nutmeg, and cayenne until blended. Stir in the Cheddar and Gruyère and simmer, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted and the mixture has slightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Fourth, Toss the pasta with the cheese sauce and transfer to the prepared baking dish. Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; crumble when cool. Lastly, In a small bowl, toss the bacon, bread crumbs, parsley, the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the macaroni and cheese and bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes.

Now it is time to for yourself and others to indulge in the dish and make memories whether you are young or old.