Smoked 4 cheese and macaroni

Macaroni and cheese has always been my thing. I've tweaked the recipe over the years, finally perfecting it (or so I thought). Here I was, thinking it couldn't possibly get any better when my husband suggested that I *gasp* SMOKE IT!

I immediately scoured the web for guidance and found this recipe from Dad Gum That's Good! that seemed to fit the bill. We embarked on this little experiment as any good food scientist would; with great vigor and hope!

Melt 1/4 cup of butter over medium heat. Slowly whisk in 1/4 cup of flour. It will turn into a paste; don't worry, this is the good stuff! The roux you are making is the very foundation of a good mac and cheese.

Working a quarter cup at a time, slowly whisk in 3 cups of milk. I used whole milk but you can use whatever percentage you like. In my experience, the thinner the milk, the less creamy the sauce. On the flip side, you can even use heavy cream to create the ultimate sauce but this bumps up the fat content (just a tad, hee hee). The roux will begin to thin, little by little. Let this warm over medium-low heat, for about 10 minutes. It will thicken as it cooks.

After the roux has thickened a bit, whisk in 8 ounces of cream cheese. When this has melted, remove from heat. Grab your pan of cooked macaroni...

Oh! I forgot the macaroni! You will want to boil this ahead of time, just until al dente. Drain and set aside till the sauce is ready.

Now, back to the sauce. Pour the milk roux over the macaroni and add 1 cup of grated cheddar (the sharper, the better), 1 cup of grated gouda and 1/2 a cup of grated parmesan. This will melt as you stir.

 Pour the whole mess into a 9x11 foil pan (you can use your own dish but keep in mind, it will get smoky!) 

Top with another cup of each cheese. You can't have too much cheese. I will probably have this engraved on my headstone...

 I can't wait...

But i'll have to...

For an hour.

Slide the pan of cheesy goodness into your smoker for an hour at 225.

Pay no attention to the Bratwurst on the top rack; that's a post for another time.

At the end of the hour, your patience pays off. Cheesy, smoky, cheesy, yummy macaroni and (did I mention) CHEESE!

We devoured this along with Buffalo Hot Potato salad and smoked Brisket. The food coma may last for days!

Buffalo Potato Salad

How could I not love this? Potato Salad? Yum. Bacon? Yummier! Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce? Yummiest! I stumbled upon the recipe here (Frank's Red Hot) while looking for a new side dish to go with dinner tonight. I couldn't wait to try it!

I started with boiling the potatoes. This always seems to be the biggest time suck. Waiting for them to boil, set and cool. I may be a tad impatient...

Cut 2 1/2 pounds of potatoes (I used a combination of red and russet, mainly because I had some to use up). Boil until just for tender; any longer will result in mashed potato salad. Still tastes good but not very pleasing to the eye. 

While potatoes are cooking, cook and crumble four slices of bacon.

I don't have any pictures of this step, mainly because I was afraid to drop my camera in the hot grease.

Cool and dice potatoes. Throw them in a big colorful bowl (or whatever you happen to have on hand)!

Slice up a cup of celery, half a cup of red onion and three of the eggs. You'll also need half a cup of bleu cheese (I may have used more. I LOVE CHEESE!) Toss it all in that big colorful bowl!

Doesn't this look so pretty? It gets better...

Throw on a cup of mayonnaise and a quarter cup of Buffalo Sauce (once again, I went a little heavy handed on the sauce and added more. I have been accused of being a hot sauce addict. So what.

Stir it all up and you end up with an incredibly unique and delicious potato salad; a nice twist for your next potluck, perhaps?

It gets even better after chilling in the fridge for an hour (if you can wait that long; I kept stealing spoonfuls while waiting for the rest of dinner to cook).

Enjoy!