Winter Soul Food: Macaroni and Cheese

From Denny: Mac 'n' Cheese is a family favorite all year 'round here in south Louisiana and throughout America. These days chefs create their own versions from a wonderful assortment of cheeses. Since President Obama was elected the national spotlight has been on the city of Chicago. This chef and his restaurant are located in The Windy City.

Chef Chiakulas was one of those precocious kids who liked to cook at an early age. By the age of 10 years old he opened his first "restaurant" serving cheese sandwiches and hotdogs to his brothers for a price: 10 cents! Now that he's all grown up he specializes in comfort food with grown-up taste and clever artistic touches to tantalize the most picky or discriminating diner.

Mity Nice Grill - Lettuce Entertain You
Water Tower Place (Mezzanine Level)- between 1st and 2nd floors.
835 N. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
312-335-4745

Mac and Jack is served at Mity Nice Grill for $9.95 at lunch and $11.95 at dinner.



Mac and Jack

From: Chef John Chiakulas of Mity Nice Grill, Chicago

Serves: 4 restaurant side dish servings - which is more like serving 6 to 8 at home.

INGREDIENTS

For sauce:

• 5 ounces grated white Cheddar cheese
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/3 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 1/3 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 2 teaspoons Parmesan cheese

For baked macaroni:

• 2 1/2 cups of Mac and Jack sauce
• 2 1/2 cups cooked pipette (fancy macaroni)
• 2 pinches of kosher salt and pepper
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 4 tablespoons seasoned breadcrumbs
• 2 pinches chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS

For sauce:

Bring all the ingredients to a boil, whisking until the cheeses are completely melted and well mixed. Do not reduce. Strain out the chili flakes. Set aside.

For macaroni:

Heat the sauce in a skillet until boiling.

Heat the cooked pasta in boiling water for 15 seconds, drain and add to the sauce.

Add the salt and pepper while tossing to combine.

Pour about 1/4 of the pasta into 2 separate bowls and top each with a 1/2 cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese.

Add the remaining pasta, splitting between the two bowls and top with ¾ cup of shredded Jack cheese each.

Sprinkle half the breadcrumbs over each one and place under the salamander or broiler.

Cook until golden brown, adding a pinch of chopped parsley to each bowl before serving.

*** Thanks for visiting and Bon Appetit!

Video: Unbelievable, OK, Weird, Foods and Recipes

From Denny: Just when I think I'm going to post something typically Cajun I run into this funny food video! These have got to be some of the most disgusting, too salty, too sugary, fatty, highest calorie, wonderful tasting recipes around. The author of the blog turned book, This Is Why You're Fat! gives you a sampling.

These are some crazy recipes! Try fried Coke - now how do you fry a liquid was my first thought? Then there are Bacon Cinnamon Rolls, McNugget-tinis (vodka and McDonald's chocolate milk shake with fried battered chicken nuggets only as a garnish, whew!), Mac 'n' Cheese layered into your meatloaf (which actually looks kinda pretty) and an Elvis Presley donut - peanut butter frosted and garnished with sliced bananas and slices of bacon on top. To qualify as "why you're fat" category a recipe has to be smothered in cheese, deep-fried or wrapped in bacon. There are a lot of bacon blogs out there, folks! And we wonder why America is fat!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

If you are game - and crazy enough - to make these recipes, enjoy!

Bacon cinnamon rolls

From: "This Is Why You're Fat"

INGREDIENTS

• 1 container bacon strips
• 1 container cream cheese
• 1 roll ready-to-cook cinnamon rolls

DIRECTIONS

Cook the bacon in a pan until one side is mostly done, but not fully cooked through. Dry the bacon of grease, then slather the mostly cooked side of the bacon with cream cheese.

Unroll the cinnamon rolls on a hard surface. Place the cream cheese-slathered bacon onto the unrolled cinnamon rolls. Roll the cinnamon rolls back up with the cream cheese bacon inside.

Place the rolls on a nonstick baking sheet and bake for 17-20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and top with icing provided in the cinnamon roll packaging.



Deep-fried Coke

From: "This Is Why You're Fat"

INGREDIENTS

• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups Coke
• Whipped cream
• Maraschino cherries

DIRECTIONS

Mix together flour and baking powder. Add eggs and Coke and mix until a batter is formed. Pour 1/3 cup batter into a funnel, dropper or turkey baster and pour into a skillet filled with oil. Fry for a minute on each side.

Serve warm, garnished with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.



Bacon mac and cheese meatloaf
(Italian grandmothers must be rolling over in their graves...)

From: "This Is Why You're Fat"

INGREDIENTS

• 2 eggs
• 2 slices wheat bread, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoon parsley, minced
• Worcestershire sauce to taste
• Cayenne pepper to taste
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 1/4 cups onion, sliced
• 10 strips of bacon
• Premade macaroni and cheese

DIRECTIONS

Mix ground chuck, eggs, bread, ketchup, garlic, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper with hands in a large bowl.

Meanwhile, sweat onion until translucent but not brown. Allow onions to cool, then add to meat mixture. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and move to refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lay bacon across the width of a loaf pan. Press a layer of meat into the bottom of the pan, on top of the bacon. This layer should fill exactly one third of the loaf pan.

Scoop some of the macaroni and cheese into the loaf pan, making sure to press out any air bubbles. This layer should also fill one third of the loaf pan.

Form a slab of meat in the approximate size and shape of the remaining one third of the loaf pan. Transfer the slab to the loaf pan. Add or remove meat as necessary to ensure a snug fit.

Fold strips of bacon back over the top of the meatloaf. Roast until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.



Elvis donut

From: "This Is Why You're Fat"

INGREDIENTS

• Glazed donut
• Peanut butter
• 3 to 4 slices of banana
• Bacon strips

DIRECTIONS

This is a peanut butter glazed donut topped with bananas and bacon.

Make some extra crispy bacon, and let cool to room temperature.

In a shallow pan heat up a peanut butter of your choice in the microwave for 30-45 seconds.

Dip one side of the glazed donut in the peanut butter.

Top the donut with 3-4 slices of banana.

Lay the bacon on top in an 'X' or chop it up and top. Lady's choice!



McNuggetini

From: "This Is Why You're Fat"

INGREDIENTS

• 1 bottle vanilla vodka
• 1 large McDonald
• 1 container McDonald
• 2 Chicken McNuggets

DIRECTIONS

Mix 3-4 shots of vanilla vodka in the McDonald's chocolate milkshake. Rim each martini glass with McDonald's barbecue sauce and pour the milkshake and vodka mixture into the glass.

Garnish each with one McNugget.



*** Thanks for visiting and come back often! :)