Not Your Bubba's Mac & Cheese

The current political scene is like watching a slow-motion, hundred and fifty car-pickup-semi-SUV-motorcycle mash-up on the I-5. Just when you think it might be ending another 18-wheeler careens on its side into the pile. It’s horrible, bloody and should have been preventable. Its only remotely beneficial element is the dollop or two of Schadenfreude that comes from watching assholes like Flynn get the boot and racist creeps like Sessions melting away.

The way out of these doldrums is cooking. Tonight we shall have my favorite Mac & Cheese, the one dubbed around here as “sure as hell ain’t my bubba’s” recipe. It’s more work than nuking one from the take-out counter at the deli but it is sooo worth it. It’s a forgiving recipe and lots of ingredients can be in- or decreased and other things like garlic, bacon or mushrooms can be added. It should serve four with a salad on the side.

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3/4 lb macaroni — I use “Scooby doos” (a double curved macaroni) but regular will do if you can’t find ‘em 

1/2 lb chorizo, removed from casings and broken up

1/2 large onion — rough chop

1 medium tomato — rough chop

1 jalapeño pepper — chopped (I keep the seeds and inner ribs — hotter that way)

1 1/2 T powdered mustard

1 chipotle with 1 t of adobo sauce — chopped (toss in another t of the sauce if you like it strongly favored)

3 T olive oil

1 T butter

3 T of flour

1 c milk (or cream or half and half)

1 c cheddar cheese — grated

1 c bread crumbs (Panko preferred)

3 T (or more) cilantro

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heat oven to 350°

cook macaroni el dente — set aside

brown chorizo in 10” pan in a drop of olive oil — set aside

sauté onion in same pan for 5, 6 minutes, add jalapeño and tomato, sauté another minute or two — set aside

add 3 T olive oil and butter to same pan, heat, add flour and stir to make a white roux

add milk (or cream) and powdered mustard — stir to thicken

add 3/4 c of cheese — stir to melt

combine everything in large baking dish

sprinkle remaining cheese and bread crumbs over top

bake 35 minutes

garnish with cilantro

good with fresh sourdough bread and a glass or two of a decent red (maybe three if you’re planning on watching the news)