We have a favorite restaurant here in Las Vegas. It's called Roadkill Grill. Yup. If you've ever watched Diners, Dives, and Drive-Ins with Guy Fieri, you've seen it. He LOVES this place. And so do we. It's probably the biggest hole in the wall I've ever seen. Located in the middle of a neighborhood, the main part of the place is a butcher shop. They serve all the food cafeteria style, in styrofoam boxes, you eat on card tables in the parking lot, and on the weekends they give out free drinks (including beer). It's so good. But my kids have a problem. They can't seem to remember that it's called Roadkill Grill, instead constantly calling it "Homekill Grill."
They have one side dish that my kiddos absolutely love - Mac and Cheese (shocking, I know!). So when I made this mac and cheese here at home, and everyone said that it tastes just like Roadkill's mac and cheese, I knew what I would name it - Homekill Grill Mac and Cheese. It's so amazing. I was able to teach my girls a little lesson about cheese while preparing this. The stinkier the cheese, the better it'll taste. It's so true! If you've ever cooked with really good cheese, you know this is a fact. Now, having said that, if you want to cook this on a serious budget, you can switch the Gruyere (stinky feet cheese!) for white sharp cheddar, and the Fontina for plain gouda or provolone. Blue cheese and goat cheese can now be found commonly with the regular cheese in the dairy section of your grocery store. It's becoming more and more popular.
A few tips for making this. First, and I've said this before, if you hate grating cheese as much as I do, throw cold cheese into a food processor and process that stuff into crumbles. Much easier and you don't grate your finger tips (GUILTY!). Second, to save time and pans, I use pre-cooked bacon. If you don't want to, you can make this with 1/2 pound real bacon, cooked and chopped. Third, and most important, WHISK WHISK WHISK CONSTANTLY! Have all of your ingredients prepared, measured, and ready to go right next to you so you don't have to stop. Because if you do, you'll end up with lumpy and gritty cheese sauce. Ew. Please, for the love of mac and cheese, whisk constantly.
"Homekill Grill" Mac and Cheese
Ingredients:
12 oz. elbow macaroni (I used Barilla® Gluten Free)
4 Tbs. unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 cups milk (I use 2%)
1 cup half and half
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup (about 5 oz.) crumbled Gruyere Cheese
3/4 cup (about 5 oz.) crumbled Fontina Cheese
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup (4 oz.) crumbled goat cheese
1 package pre-cooked bacon, chopped
1 cup french fried onions
1/2 cup (4 oz.) crumbled blue cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan with butter. Cook macaroni according to package instructions. Set aside 1/4 cup each of Gruyere, Fontina, Parmesan, and Blue Cheeses.
2. While macaroni is cooking, prepare cheese sauce. In a large skillet, melt butter. Add flour, salt, pepper, and onion powder, and garlic powder and whisk constantly for 1 minute to form a roux. Slowly pour milk into roux, whisking constantly. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until white sauce becomes bubbly and thick. Add half and half, whisking constantly, until mixed in.
3. Pour about 1/4 cup of white sauce into beaten eggs, beating constantly with a fork to prevent eggs from cooking and clotting. Slowly pour eggs into main white sauce, whisking constantly. (Have I said whisking constantly enough for you? Good, because it's SUPER important that you WHISK CONSTANTLY!)
4. Add 1/2 cup each of Gruyere, Fontina, Parmesan, and goat cheese to the white sauce and continue to whisk until cheeses have melted. When macaroni is finished cooking, drain and pour macaroni into the cheese sauce. Stir to coat.
5. Sprinkle half of the bacon pieces into the bottom of 9x13 pan. Using your hand, crumble 1/3 of the french fried onions in with the bacon. Pour half the macaroni on top of the bacon and onions. Top with remaining bacon, crumble another 1/3 of the french fried onions, and add 1/4 cup of the blue cheese. Top with remaining macaroni and cheese sauce. Sprinkle reserved cheeses on top of the macaroni and add remaining french fried onions (do NOT crumble them on this step).
6. Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until mixture becomes bubbly and starts to brown on top. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes to cool. Serve immediately.
Serves 10-12
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks
