Grilled Balsamic Pork Chops and Fried Macaroni and Cheese Bars! (Recipe Inside)

I know what you’re thinking, I have went too far by making fried macaroni and cheese bars! Maybe I have but dammit in the kitchen I am a bonafide risk taker. So after I posted this on Instagram some of my friends messaged me for the recipe. So what better place to share my recipe but on my blog! So lets jump right in on how to make Grilled Balsamic Pork Chops and Fried Macaroni and Cheese Bars!

To prepare this meal you want to start the day before. The Macaroni and Cheese Bars have to be set overnight first to be ready for use. Let me explain how below.

Fried Mac and Cheese Bars

• Sauce pan

• Pasta pot

• Bacon or Pancetta (As desired) ( 3 strips chopped finely preferred)

• Milk 2 cups

• Cheese of your choice (I used Gouda) 1 Block

• Flour 3 tbsp

• Butter 7 tsp

• Mushrooms (As desired)

• Onions (Mince a small onion or half of a large)

• Garlic 1 tbsp

     The Dredge Station

• 2 beaten Eggs and 3 Tbsp of Milk (Same Bowl)

• A Cup of Flour (Separate Bowl)

• Italian Breadcrumbs (Separate Bowl)

Let’s cook some macaroni and cheese! Preheat your oven to 325 Degrees.

Pasta Time!Take some elbow noodles half of a small bag and boil in salted and oiled water. Boil the pasta for half the cooking time on the box. You don’t want to over cook your pasta. Please taste along the way for desired tenderness. Once you have the pasta cooked sit to the side and lets work on your cheese sauce.

Bacon!

Fry up about 3 strips of bacon. Once the bacon is crispy roughly chop it and sit to the side until you have completed your white sauce.

Bacon Tip: If you don’t want to fry the bacon you can always pre-heat the oven to 350 and lay the strips flat on a wire rack until crisp.

Sautee’ mushrooms

In a skillet over medium high heat take a knob of butter and cook the mushrooms. Cook them down until golden brown and the moisture as been removed. Add a slight sprinkle of salt to draw the moisture from them.

The White Sauce

The cheese sauce is very simple. We will start with a standard white sauce. Add the butter to the sauce pan until frothy. Once the butter is melted add the flour and whisk until the flour has cooked out its raw flavor. How you will know is the butter and flour will start to give off a nutty fragrance almost like pie crust. At this point pour in your milk slowing whisk away lumps. Don’t worry it will be smooth just keep whisking until all is incorporated. The milk sauce at this point will thicking and be ready for the cheese.

Once the milk sauce is smooth add the cheese a little at a time so it can melt evenly into the sauce mixture. Add cheese and then stir. Repeat this step until all the cheese is blended in. Now at this point we need to add our garlic, minced onion, bacon, mushroom, salt and pepper to taste.

CAUTION ****Be careful with the salt because your bacon is salty. So add a little and then taste once bacon is inside the sauce.****

Once the cheese sauce is ready add your noodles to the baking dish. Then pour the cheese sauce on top. Once you have poured the cheese sauce, mix until the noodles are well coated. After you coated the noodles slide into the preheated oven uncovered for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes remove the mac and cheese and place it on a cooling rack. After the macaroni and cheese cools down wrap with foil and place in the fridge overnight for the pasta to firm up.

The next day pull the macaroni and cheese from the fridge and with a knife cut medium sized squares. Once you have your bars cut set-up your dredging station. Place the mac and cheese bar in flour, then egg wash, and fully coat in bread crumbs. Repeat this step for all bars. Sit them on a plate and place them back in the fridge to let the bread adhere to the bar.

In a frying pan add oil and heat to 350 degrees. Then place each bar inside for one minute. Please watch very closely because you don’t want to burn. The goal here is to make the outside golden brown. Fry on both sides for 1 and half minutes then remove to a papertowl for draining. You want to serve these piping hot.

Pork Chops

What you will need:

• Large Ziplock Bag

• Grill Pan

• Olive Oil 1/3 of a cup

• Balsamic Vinegar 1/3 of a cup

• Honey 3 Tbsp

• Fresh chopped Rosemary 1 Tbsp

• Kosher Salt 1 Tsp

• Freshly Ground Pepper 1 Tsp

Now lets talk pork chops! I would suggest a bone in chop because the bones help to develop the flavor in the meat but if you want to use boneless it will work too. Now in the ziplock bag combine, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Take the pork chops and add them to the bag and let marinate for 1 hour or 2 hours (best).

Prepare the grill pan on the stove. Taking a napkin dab a small amount of olive oil on it and proceed to wipe down the groves inside of the pan. Then turn on the burner to medium-high heat until you see the grill pan smoke a little. Remove the pork chops and disregard the remaining marinade into the trash.

Once the grill pan is smoking hot place the chops on a diagonal to create beautiful grill marks. Now the cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of your chop. For the size chop I had I grilled on both sides for 6 minutes but again if your chop is bigger/smaller add or decrease cooking time.

Once chops are finished cooking place them on a sheet pan. Slightly tent them with foil allowing them to rest. Always let meat rest before eating so the meat can gather back its juices.

Something Fresh

You always need a fresh element on the plate, why not a mixed green salad. Take some of your favorite mixed greens and dress them in your most delicious dressing. Dress the salad right before serving. No one likes a soggy salad.

Plating

Plate up your creation and most importantly share this meal with the people you love.

xoxo

Jersey