Candied Bacon Pretzel Mac & Cheese

Our friend Jason held his birthday at Infusion Brewing in Trinity last week. The brewery was hosting a mac & cheese competition that day so of course we had to participate!

The contest was judged on cheesiness, texture, seasoning, overall taste, and creativity. We spent time on Pinterest trying to find a unique recipe and came across a couple that incorporated pretzels for crunchy texture, which was perfect since they also pair great with beer! As an added bonus, we also topped ours with candied bacon, one of Lance’s mom’s recipes.

There were nine different kinds (one was disqualified since it was made by one of the brewers). There was a pretty good variety, but I’m of course biased and loved ours the best! Our second favorite was actually the disqualified one which incorporated Infusion Brewing’s “Pep in Yo Step” Double IPA, brewed with jalapeño and serrano peppers.

Unfortunately, we weren’t the winners this time – honestly I think it wasn’t as much based on taste/creativity as it was on who had the largest group of people with them to vote. Ours was completely devoured by the time we left, so in my books that means we won. And now we have a really awesome go-to mac and cheese recipe if we really want to splurge!

We doubled the recipe below which ended up making even more than would fit in our large crockpot. Unless you’ve got a huge group, a single version of the recipe will feed plenty of people

Candied Bacon Pretzel Mac & Cheese (adapted from Food to Love)

Ingredients:

• 8 pieces candied bacon (recipe here), broken into bite-sized pieces  
• 1 pound cavatappi pasta (you can use whatever kind you like, but the spiral shape held the cheese pretty well)
• 16 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 T Dijon mustard
• 4 cups milk (we used 2%)
• 1¼ cups heavy cream
• 2 cups sharp cheddar
• 2 cups pepperjack cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella  
• 5 T butter
• 1 cup pretzels, chopped into pieces
• ½ cup panko breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Cook the candied bacon according to the recipe (this can be done a day ahead of time since it takes two hours to cook).

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

3. Cook pasta for 2 minutes less than the cooking time in the instructions.

4. Shred the cheddar, mozzarella and pepperjack cheeses.

5. Drain and dump the cooked pasta into a large greased baking dish (we used a disposable one since we didn’t have one large enough).

6. Process cream cheese, salt, and mustard until smooth. Add half the milk, process until smooth. Pour over the pasta mixture. Stir in the remaining milk, cream, half of the candied bacon, and 4 cups of the shredded cheese mixture.  

7. Top the pasta with the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese, remaining candied bacon, and the panko breadcrumbs

8. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

9. Take out of oven and top with pretzel pieces.

Note: We had to transfer this all to a crockpot to keep it warm at the competition, so we waited to add the candied bacon and pretzel topping until we moved the pasta to the new dish.

Urban Brew and BBQ – St. Pete, FL

We kept hearing great reviews about Urban Brew and BBQ, which opened about 2 years ago on Central Avenue in St. Pete, but unfortunately we didn’t check it out until a few weeks ago.  We are thrilled to have finally tried it because it is AWESOME. 

The first time we went, Lance and I had a date night on a Sunday.  It wasn’t very crowded that night, so we had the patio to ourselves, which has nice string lights hung and wood-slat planters.  I love the design of this place – they did a great job making it casual yet sophisticated.  They even took the time to tile the bathroom floors in pennies, which they individually placed, taking over 30 hours to create. 

We were impressed by their wide craft beer selection – we were told that each brewery is only allowed one beer at a time on tap.  I had Barley Mow’s Maven On Cocoa Nibs Chocolate Milk Stout which was almost like a dessert.

 

The barbeque there is amazing.  We started a dish they called “The Thing” – a cornbread waffle topped with pulled pork, cheese, bacon, and an egg over easy with house made pork gravy.  It wasn’t anything pretty – pretty much a blob of food – but wow it was tasty! 

Next we split the half rack of ribs served with a fresh baked roll and our choice of side.  We upgraded our side to the Urban Mac ‘N’ Cheese, baked in a skillet and featuring smoked gouda, parmesan, and cheddar with prosciutto and crispy bread crumb topping.  We cleaned the whole metal tray.  Lance has decided this is his new favorite restaurant (although Datz is still a close second...)  

And just since we felt like splurging that night, we split one of their desserts – bacon s’mores.  It was baked in a skillet too – if you like sweet & salty combinations, it’s the perfect dessert.  The bottom had a graham cracker crust topped with chocolate and marshmallows, then sprinkled with chunks of bacon. 

While we were eating, we read on their chalkboard about a 5 course dinner paired with 5 Green Bench beers.  We enjoyed our dinner so much, and we love Green Bench, so we invited friends to join us to check it out!

The 8:40pm seating was the only time available, but that worked out well because before dinner, we actually ended up booking our wedding venue just a few blocks away in St. Pete at Nova 535.  It’s a really beautiful building with brick walls, wood floors, and a courtyard with 30’ high bamboo – so excited!

Our friends Pate and Katie joined us for dinner.  We sat at the bar inside with the small crowd that was able to get tickets.  The food was actually a preview of some possible menu items for a new sister restaurant, Urban Comfort, which is meant to open this summer.  They are repurposing an old autoshop and adding all sorts of fun games like horseshoe, volleyball, and even a shuffleboard court (which was funded by Kickstarter). 

Urban Comfort will not only have great food like Urban Brew and BBQ, but it will also brew its own beer.  I had sampled a preview of their Kumquat Hefeweizen back in February at Localtopia.   

At the food and beer pairing dinner, Khris, the brewer from Green Bench, gave us a background about each beer we sampled. 

We started off with their Les Grisettes – a low-alcohol farmhouse ale.  Khris explained that this style of beer was originally brewed as refreshment for coal miners.  “Grisettes” comes from the French word “gris”, which means grey.  The women who delivered the ale to the miners often had grey clothes.

The first course was a deviled egg topped with pork rinds.  I really liked having the crunchy addition to a typical deviled egg.  Urban Brew makes their own bacon, so they said they use the leftover skins to make their own pork rinds. 

Next we had the Skyway American Wheat Ale – brewed with four different kinds of hops.  I’m not normally a fan of hoppy beer, but the citrus in it actually balanced it out so I liked this one.  This was paired with black eyed peas with braised pork shoulder – they explained that it’s a long process to make this dish, but it was so flavorful.  It was pretty rich though – and I wanted to save room for my other courses, so I couldn’t finish it all. 

After that we had the May The Fort Be With You – an American IPA.  Again, pretty hoppy, but citrusy.  It’s a reference to Star Wars, as well as a local group called the “Tampa Bay Beer Nerds Hide Out Blanket/Pillow Fort” – which apparently has a top secret facebook group for extreme craft beer enthusiasts in the area.  This was served with a biscuit and sausage gravy – made from scratch with lard and sea salt.  The biscuit was a bit dry for me, but very traditional southern style. 

Next came the Happy Hermit Pale Ale – another hoppy yet light beer.  This came with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and rosemary gravy.  The chicken was brined for 24 hours in herbs and spices so it was extra juicy and herby. 

Finally, we barely had room, but we finished with the Maximo Milk Stout – named after Maximo Park on Boca Ciega Bay.  This sweet beer went perfectly with the skillet bourbon pecan pie.  It was served a la mode and was seriously decadent. 

If you want to check out the last Beer Dinner before they take a break to focus on opening Urban Comfort, Urban Brew will be pairing food with JDubs Brewing on May 26^th.  You’ll need to call to make reservation since tickets book quickly. 

Urban Brew and BBQ is located at 1939 Central Ave, St Petersburg, FL 33713. They are open Monday – Thursday 11am – 10pm, Friday – Saturday 11am – 12am, and Sunday 12pm – 10pm. 

Bacon Parmesan Snap Peas

 

When we made the mustard-roasted chicken a few weeks back, I made way too much of the crispy breadcrumb mixture.  So, for Super Bowl Sunday, I used the rest to make a healthier replacement for fried chicken to enjoy during the game. 

I asked Lance what sides he wanted, and he said Trader Joe’s Mac & Cheese and something green with bacon in it.  I’m not usually a fan of most frozen foods, but that Mac & Cheese tastes like a side you’d get at a restaurant.  It has four cheeses – Cheddar, Swiss, Havarti, and Gouda. 

I had already bought some snap peas, so I prepared those as our 2^nd side.  They turned out so delicious that I had to share the recipe! 

Bacon Parmesan Snap Peas (adapted from The Pig & Quill)

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs sugar snap peas
• Juice and zest of 2 lemons
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ T Dijon mustard (I used Trader Joe’s whole grain Dijon)
• ¼ cup grated parmesan
• 3 slices thick bacon
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

1. Cook your bacon and crumble into pieces.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Prepare another bowl with ice water. 

3. When water boils, add your snap peas, cooking until tender and bright green, only 30 – 60 seconds.  Immediately remove with a slotted spoon and add to the ice water so they stop cooking. 

4. In a large bowl, whisk together lemon juice, zest, and mustard.   Whisk in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.   

5. Drain the cooled peas and add to the dressing bowl.  Toss with parmesan cheese and crumbled bacon.