TOWARDS A MEATIER MAC AND CHEESE

Mac and cheese is a winter staple. Fat, salt, carbs – add some meat and it is perfect. For most of my life I have preferred “adult” mac and cheese options, as in “not from a box.” Making the sauce is a relatively simple process involving cream and cheese. It won’t be as smooth as the Kraft brick cheese or the boxed stuff, but that is just fine by me. Not that I don’t enjoy both, but if I am taking the time to add some wildcaught items to my dish, I feel the need to make my cheese sauce from scratch.

In this recipe I ask for “white” fish fillets. What I am really talking about is any whitefleshed fish. It could be halibut, perch, catfish, bass, etc. Hell, even salmon would work, but the fish needs to be mild in flavor – think pink salmon. Basically, don’t use a super-fishy fish for this dish.

½ pound elbow macaroni

4 tablespoons butter, divided

8 ounces Cajun-style sausages, sliced into rings

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

5 ounces diced “white” fish fillets

2/3 cup heavy cream

½ tablespoon Sriracha

¼ teaspoon fresh nutmeg

10 ounces medium cheddar, shredded

Salt and pepper

½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

½ cup Italian-style breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Bring a two-quart pot of salted water to a boil in an oven-safe stock pot. Cook pasta until al dente (soft but with a little crunch left) and then drain. Toss in pasta in half the butter to coat – this will keep the pasta from sticking together. Reserve the pasta.

While the pasta is cooking, add the other half of the butter to a medium saucepan. Melt the butter over medium heat, but before it browns add the diced onion, garlic and sausage rings. Cook for two to three minutes, or until the sausages are a little caramelized. Add the “white” fish at this point.

Next add the cream, lower the cooking temperature to low, and bring to a simmer. Add the nutmeg, Sriracha and cheese. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Toss the cheesy mix with the reserved noodles to coat the pasta. Mix the shredded Parmesan with the breadcrumbs.

Place mix back into stock pot (this is optional; bake it in whatever you want, but this method saves on the number of dishes you must wash). Place the breadcrumb and Parmesan mix on top of the cheesy noodles and bake for 20 minutes, until the top is golden brown and bubbling.

Serve and enjoy!

For more wild game recipes, see chefrandyking.com. –RK