HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Still watching the game and getting over all the food I had.

I know its kinda sad, but I for the first time ever made a really successful Mac & Cheese.  I kept feeling guilty about all the butter and cheese and wanted to cut back on bacon etc, but the hubby won't let me. I guess if you're gonna go there, then you might as well take it all the way there. Peep the recipe down below:

Bacon, Gruyere and Cheddar Mac N’ Cheese
Serve 4-6
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 pound Cavatappi or elbow pasta (or whatever you like)
½ pound sliced smoked bacon
1 ½ cups fresh white breadcrumbs (pulse bread in food processor)
½ cup grated Parmesan
8 tablespoons butter
1 tsp rosemary, diced-optional
1 tsp thyme, diced-optional
¼ cup minced shallots
½ cup flour
1 quart whole milk
6 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp smoked paprika-optional

Cook pasta according to directions. Cook bacon and drain on paper towels. Keep bacon fat in pan. Crumble bacon when cool.
Topping: Combine breadcrumbs, crumbled bacon, Parmesan, rosemary, thyme and 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375. Sauté shallots over low heat in bacon fat for one minute. Add remaining 6 tablespoons of butter and continue to sauté shallots until translucent. Add flour and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes. Increase heat to medium while stirring constantly with a whisk and add milk. Cook until sauce is thickened and remove from heat then add salt, pepper, nutmeg, smoked paprika, Gruyere and cheddar. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if necessary. Stir in pasta and pour into baking dish. Sprinkle topping and cover with foil, bake 15 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until sauce is bubbly and topping is brown. I believe that it tastes even better the next day. If you have time, prepare it a day ahead (minus breadcrumbs) and bake before serving.

Yup, its all kinds of bad and tastes all kinds of good.  Recipe courtesy of The Dabble.
We should shortly be back to our regularly scheduled program. Wonder why I'm feeling sleepy.