Our family-by-choice holds a Thanksgiving celebration every year with a theme that shapes everyone’s recipe choices. This year’s theme was boozy food. My real goal with this recipe was to figure out a way to incorporate booze into a comfort-food dish without a lot of painful machinations or shitty booze.¹

Bourbon mac and cheese

Ingredients

• 1 lb dried macaroni pasta (about 4 cups uncooked)
• 6 quarts of water
• 1 lb thick-cut peppered bacon, chopped
• 1 lb leeks, white and light green parts only, chopped
• 5 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, plus a little for sprinkling
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked sea salt
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 lb smoked cooked chicken, shredded and chopped
• 1/4 cup good quality bourbon whiskey
• 3 tablespoons unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 2 cups half and half
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups mixed, shredded cheese, divided

Instructions

Cook the pasta.

Cook the dried pasta in a large pot until al dente, then drain it and set it aside in a large bowl while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Fry the bacon and then soften the leeks in the grease.

1. In a large frying pan, cook the chopped bacon over medium-low heat until browned but not crisp.
2. Using a slotted, spoon, remove the bacon from the pan and set it aside.
3. Add two tablespoons of the butter to the pan and continue to heat over medium-low until melted.
4. Add the leeks to the pan and cook until completely soft.

Add the spices and chicken, then deglaze the pan with the bourbon.

1. Increase the heat to medium. Add the paprika, sea salt, and cayenne and stir to coat the leeks evenly with them.
2. Add the smoked chicken and heat through, then re-add the bacon.
3. Pour in the bourbon, scraping up the browned bits that have stuck to the pan during cooking.
4. Take the meat mixture off the heat and add it to the bowl of cooked pasta, tossing to combine. Set aside.

Make the cheese sauce.

1. In a sauce pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat.
2. Whisk in the flour and continue to stir for three minutes.
3. Gradually whisk in the half and half to the flour mixture.
4. Add the bay leaf and then simmer the milk mixture gently for about 15 minutes, stirring often, until thickened and bubbly.
5. Remove from heat, remove the bay leaf, and stir in 3 cups of shredded cheese until melted.

Combine all ingredients and bake them until done.

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Lightly grease a large glass or ceramic baking dish (big enough to hold about 3 quarts), then add the meat and pasta mixture.
3. Pour the cheese mixture over the meat mixture and and toss to combine with and thoroughly coat the pasta.
4. Distribute the remaining shredded cheese over the top of the casserole then sprinkle lightly with a little paprika for color.
5. Bake for about 30 minutes, until everything is bubbly and lightly browning around the edges.
6. Let stand for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Ingredients notes

Bacon. The bacon we keep around the house most of the time comes from John Henry’s Meats, who have a vendor’s stall at our local farmer’s market. We choose their thick-cut bacon because it doesn’t scorch as quickly if you don’t have as much control over your pan heat as you need. I usually use the peppercorn bacon in this recipe because I love the heat it imparts in the richness of all the cheese. If you don’t have access to a good, peppered bacon like this one, add a healthy teaspoon to the leeks when you’re softening them.

Leeks. Leeks weren’t my first choice for this recipe but I had run out of onions around the time I was making this recipe when I was prepping for the holidays. The leeks worked surprisingly well, but I think I’d like to try caramelized onions the next time I make this. When I do, what I’ll probably do is decrease the heat of the pan when the onions go in and cook them a little slower than the leeks to soften them up completely first. Then I’ll turn up the heat a bit more to caramelize them over time. I’m sure a sweet onion like a Vidalia would work here, but the normal white or yellow onions from my usual vendor at the market are sweet enough that I think they’ll be just fine in this recipe.

Smoked chicken. For a long time we would get our smoked chicken from Otto’s Chicken, who also have a vendor’s stall at our local farmer’s market. They don’t sell this particular product at present because they’re looking for someone new to smoke the meat. The variety they sold for a long time was a nice, smooth smoke flavor that didn’t beat up your taste buds. If you smoke chicken on your own, I suggest you use a wood like a sugar maple because of the sweet smoke, though a standard hickory or something like an apple wood will both work well.

Whiskey. I don’t recommend using scotch in this recipe because the flavors typically overpower everything else (especially if you like your scotch peaty). I use bourbon because of its inherent sweetness. When I originally made this recipe, I used Beer Barrel Bourbon, from New Holland Brewing (based in Holland, Michigan). You could also consider using an American rye but it won’t be as sweet.^{2 3}

Cheese. The cheese mix here is a bit of a tricky beast. I’ve seen people choose classic pizza cheeses, but I don’t think that works well for this recipe because they typically get too greasy when they cook up, even though they melt well. If you prefer mild cheese flavors, a Colby or sharp cheddar will work just fine for the sauce. I prefer cheeses that hold up well to all the smokiness in the casserole. I usually go for something more complex like a mix of Gruyere, Emmentaler, and Surchoix Appenzeller, much like a classic fondue mix.