Hickory Smoked Mac and Cheese

So ... I don't make it a whole lot, but my kids REALLY like my smoked mac and cheese.

Well ... not just my kids. Just about anyone who has ever tried it has raved about it. I love it too. Unfortunately, it isn't the healthiest of meals, and that comes from someone who makes a ton of BBQ.

Anyway ... a couple weeks ago, my older son had his girlfriend over and my son requested that I make my smoked mac and cheese.

 

Mac and Cheese on the Kettle

My youngest son graduated from High School this past weekend.

This makes me feel old. Where did all the years go? As they say ... "The days are long. The years are short".

Anyway ... with my oldest son visiting to celebrate his little brother, I made my world-famous comfort food ...

Smoked Mac and Cheese.

I made it a little different than I ever had before. Usually, I use either bacon or sausage as the meat. This time I used both.

And ... the bacon was just laying on the top of the dish as opposed to having it mixed into the noodles and cheese mixture.

Wednesday Smoked Mac & Cheese

It is time for my oldest son to go back to college, and my wife asked him if he had any requests for meals before he left us.

As always, one of the meals he requested was Smoked Mac and Cheese.

Can't really blame him. My Smoked Mac and Cheese is delicious.

Usually I cook during the weekends and my wife cooks during the week. 

I work at home, so there isn't really a reason I shouldn't cook during the week. My wife just doesn't usually want to let me. 

But for various reasons I wasn't able to get it in the weekend between when it was requested and the weekend he has to return.

So ... I made this batch of Mac and Cheese this past Wednesday. 

Smoked Mac and Cheese with Ham

I've mentioned before on this blog many times that my family really loves Smoked Mac and Cheese.

I never follow the recipe exactly, but it is based on what I have in my original Smoked Mac and Cheese blog post.

I made some Smoked Mac and Cheese a couple weeks ago.

Usually, I add bacon, but this time, part of the reason I made it was to use up the ham that I had vacuum sealed and frozen from last Easter Ham I made.

Other than replacing the bacon with ham, I didn't really make any major modifications.

It turned out awesome. I really liked the ham in the dish, although it really is difficult to beat bacon.

Here are some pictures:

Hickory Smoked Mac and Cheese

If you follow this blog ... you may have read this before ... but my kids really like the Smoked Mac and Cheese that I make.

Whenever my oldest is home from college, and we ask if there is anything he'd like to request, Smoked Mac and Cheese is close to the top of the list.

He has been home for Spring break, and Saturday I made some.

I'm not real good at following recipes, but my reference starting point is always the one I have listed on "Smoked Mac and Cheese".

Smoked Mac and Cheese Pictures

A couple of weekends ago, my son wanted Smoked Mac and Cheese. So, I made Smoked Mac and Cheese on my Weber Kettle.

I pretty much followed the recipe from Smoked Mac and Cheese. 

Smoked Mac-n-Cheese

My son is home from college for Spring Break.

His favorite thing I smoke is Smoked Mac and Cheese, and so I made a batch this past Saturday.

He also wanted to go hiking on Saturday. Since my kids don't get up until fairly late in the day, I prepared the Mac and Cheese in the morning so I could just throw it on the smoker in the afternoon.

If you would like to see the recipe ... go to my blog post Smoked Mac and Cheese. 

It is basically the recipe I (sort of) followed.

I started by cooking the bacon on my grill.

As the bacon was cooking, I started the sauce inside on our stove.

Puppy Monkey Baby (274)

Puppy. Monkey. Baby. PuppyMonkeyBaby.

There was an incredibly stupid commercial during Superbowl 50. (Go Broncos!)

Puppy. Monkey. Baby. PuppyMonkeyBaby.

The commercial was for some sort of weird Mountain Dew flavor. Not something I ever tried. I am fairly certain I'm not missing anything.

I keep a list of potential beer names on my phone, and for some reason, at some point (I assume during or shortly after the Superbowl), I added "Puppy Monkey Baby" to my list of names.

A couple weeks ago, I decided that my next beer would be a low alcohol American Blonde ale, and I as I was trying to decide on a name, "Puppy Monkey Baby" jumped out at me.

I honestly don't know why. It is a stupid beer name. But, it does amuse me. I guess that is reason enough to choose a name.

I brewed it last Sunday on my Anvil Foundry.

Puppy Monkey Baby Blonde Ale

More on the Weber Kettle

So ... you know that recently I got a Weber Kettle and have been smoking a few things on it.

I did shared that I had done chicken and deep dish pizza in I bought a Weber Kettle.

And ... of course I made pork butt for Big Brew Day in an Overnight Cook.

I really like my Weber Kettle. So far, it has really worked well for me. Probably even better than my offset smoker. Ideally it would have a little more cooking space, but it works out great for things I've made so far for my family.

A couple weekends ago, I had a Chuck Roast sitting in my fridge that I needed to cook up.

My kids had also been asking for Smoked Mac and Cheese . Since my youngest had just gone through his Confirmation at church, I thought it would be appropriate to have a celebration dinner of his choosing.

So ... I thought it would be fun to try these out on the new Weber Kettle.

Brewing Near-Sighted Swine IPA

I don't make a lot of IPA's, but the other day I started thinking I really should get one brewed.

Quite awhile ago I brewed an IPA that I really enjoyed, named Near-Sighted Swine IPA. Rather than come up with a new recipe, I decided to use this one.

I did update the hops a little. But, it is essentially the same recipe as it was back then.

Last Sunday (not this past Sunday ... the one before), I brewed the beer.

I started the brew day somewhat late for me ... after the sun was up ... around 6AM or so.

The skies looked like rain, but I started on the back patio.

About the time that the mash was done, I felt a bit of rain hit me from the skies and I made the decision to move the garage.

Smoked Mac and Cheese

So ... I got to use my smoker a couple times last weekend.

Recently, I posted articles about Bacon Wrapped Onion Bombs and Smoked Salsa. I cooked both of these last Saturday on the smoker.

On Sunday, I made something else on the smoker.

Something even more delicious.

Macaroni and Cheese.  Yum! Yum! Yum!

It was sooooooo Guuuuuuuud.

So Good.

Really when it comes right down to it, there are tons of baked Mac and Cheese recipes out on the internet. Smoked Mac and Cheese is simply doing the same thing ... only cooking it on the grill.