killer mac and cheese [porter]

All I can say is yummm!  This macaroni and cheese is creamy, flavorful, and ready to be morphed into what ever you want it to be.  This is not a substitute for the ease and childhood satisfaction of the blue box, but this down-home-cooking variation is sure to fill a craving for comfort food.

Ingredients:
Makes 3 entree servings or 4 side dish servings
3 cups medium pasta shells (size small works too)
3 3/4 cup skim milk
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (freshly shredded is best)
1 tsp salt
3 strips of peppered bacon (if not hearty slices, go for 4 strips)
1 serrano pepper, seeded and finely sliced and diced

The how to:
In a medium size pot, add pasta and milk together and heat to just before boiling.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring regularly to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom.  Try not the let the milk boil.  Meanwhile (and you'll have to multitask because you are still stirring the pot frequently), fry the bacon on medium in a separate pan.  Remove bacon and dry on a paper-towel lined plate.  Drain most, not all, of the bacon grease from the pan and add diced serrano to fry over medium-low heat for 2 minutes.  Once the pasta is cooked, remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheese and salt.  When fully incorporated, tear cooled bacon into dime sized pieces and stir into pasta along with the serrano. 

Side notes:
If not using pepper bacon, be sure to add some coarsely ground pepper for a similar taste.  The serrano pepper is not too spicy in this dish, especially when very thinly sliced and chopped it disperses well in the cheese.  However, if you do not like spicy foods, substitute with a less spicy jalapeno or skip altogether and try some yellow mustard for some flavor.  For a more true-to-the-name mac and cheese, hold the bacon and serrano and add a few grates of nutmeg and white pepper.  I'd love to hear any other versions that you come up with!

Editor's note: I had a layer of burned milk at the bottom of my pot that was not coming off with a normal scrubbing effort after soaking.  Letting the pot soak for 3 min with hot water, dish soap and 1/4 white vinegar helped it come off relatively easily with a light scrub.  If this isn't your thing, boil the pasta in water according to package directions, drain, then add 1-2 cups of milk and other ingredients.  Adjust milk amounts to preferred consistency of sauce.

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