Spicy Mac and Cheese

I've never been much of a mac and cheese girl. Sure, I've had it occasionally, but something about store bought liquid cheese always seemed off-putting to me. Through my recent obsession with foodgawker.com, I was somewhat more tempted given that the pictures always looked so amazing. What's not to love about beautiful browning cheese?

In engaging in more food-porn, it struck to me that mac and cheese could indeed be made very creatively! You can play around with the kinds of cheeses you use, what base you use, what spices/seasoning to add, and it's nearly impossible to go wrong with such wonderful quantities of cheese.

I'm also proud to note that this will probably be my first ever recipe brought to fruition solely through my imagination, and while it may not be any great feat, it's rather exciting to know that you concocted something delicious, even while being inspired by many sources. Ok so here goes the recipe. It's rather straightforward:

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
2 cups low fat milk
1/4 cup flour
3/4 pack wheat macaroni shells
about 2 cups cheese. I used a combination of monterey pepper jack, cheddar and dill fontina.
1 onion
1 jalapeno pepper
1 serrano pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 tbsp crushed peppers
salt and pepper
2 tbsp habanero pepper for heat


1. Melt the butter in a pan, and add the flour to it until the mixture turns a light brown. Meanwhile, heat up the milk in the microwave until it has reached a lukewarm temperature. Pour the milk into the flour and butter mixture and stir around the sauce for around 5 minutes until the sauce thickens.

2. Meanwhile, chop up the onions, peppers and bell peppers finely and sautee them in a pan until the onion is golden brown in color. Allow to cool.

3. Also, in the meantime, cook the macaroni shells and allow them to cool once cooked.
4. Once the sauce has thickened add the cheese to the mixture and blend in the cheeses with the sauce to create a thick and rich cheese sauce. Add in the crushed peppers, salt and pepper at this point.

5. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Combine the cheese sauce with the vegetable mixture and add in some habanero sauce for more heat if you like. Bake for around 25 minutes.