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.

6th Annual Great St. Pete Cupcake Contest

I’m having a sugar crash right now writing this post because I just got back from the 6^th Annual Great St. Pete Cupcake Contest.  I just ate enough sweets to last me a month…

My mom joined me along with my friends Thao, Crystal, Kate & Brent.  Here’s our amazing spread of cupcakes:

I attended for the 5^th Annual Contest last year, which was held at the Morean Arts Center in downtown St. Pete.  I think that year they underestimated how much people like cupcakes because it was WAY too crowded and almost impossible to navigate.  This year, they moved to a larger venue just down the road – the Morean Center for Clay.  Lance and I had actually attended a Meet the Chefs event there last December. 

The contest is a mix of professional bakers and amateur cupcake enthusiasts.  This year I was especially impressed with the creativity in flavors and presentation.  There were Cookie Monsters, mini churros, a Ferris Wheel display, and dried pineapple "flowers" (I saw this technique at the "Cupcakes and Cocktails" event at the Epicurean Theatre last year...) 

You can try as many cupcakes as you’d like for free, but then it is $1 per ticket to vote for your favorites (the proceeds benefit the Morean Center).  Luckily most people bake mini cupcakes – although even with the small ones, it was impossible to try them all.  It’s best if you have someone that you can split them with so you can taste a wider variety. 

There were so many talented bakers, but a couple definitely stood out.  There was an apple cupcake that was so incredibly moist – that was one of the first I tried.  One cinnamon cupcake actually had a little liquor injector that let you squeeze Horchata into the center.   

There was a cupcake that had Earl Gray tea in the frosting embellished with an adorable fondant teacup! 

Probably my favorite of all though was the black forest cupcakes with chocolate dipped cherries and incredibly rich chocolate cupcakes. 

Judges select the best novice and professional bakers, then the tickets determine the People’s Choice awards.  Here are this year's winners:

Novice Category:

1st Place: Monica McLaughlin - Root Beer Float

2nd Place: Lauren Haught - Lime w/ Strawberry and Basil Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Professional Category:

1st Place: Diane Ratto - Peanut Butter Cream Banana Dream

2nd Place: Joyce King - Angry Orchard Apple Crumb

Specialty Category (Gluten or Vegan entries):

1st Place: Deborah Molise - Pumpkin Cheescake

2nd Place: Brittney Sherley - Vegan Double Mocha

People's Choice:

1st Place: Jen Jacobs - Chai Latte w/ Brown Butter Marscapone Buttercream

2nd Place: Michelle Saxton - Dark Chocolate Coffee w/ Cream Cheese Buttercream

Additional Awards:

Best Overall Frosting: Jen Jacobs - Chai Latte w/ Brown Butter Marscapone Buttercream

Best Chocolate of the Day: Michelle Garner - Junk Cupcake

Flavor Pop: Amy Turner - Bubble Gum Cupcake
Artistic Award: Melissa Howes - Honey w/ Strawberry & Earl Grey

Now time for a nap…

Roux – Coming Soon

Datz has a new restaurant coming very soon called Roux that I’m very excited about.  It will serve its own twist on New Orleans style Creole cuisine and their menu sounds amazing! It’s supposed to open in the next few weeks. 

They had a competition this morning: two guys dressed as crawfish wandered around town, and if you caught a photo of them and uploaded it to Roux’s facebook page, you could win a dinner for 2 at the new restaurant when it opens! 

I was on a mission this morning to find them.  Someone else had uploaded a photo showing them on MacDill Ave right near Roux, so I hopped in my car and headed over there.  By the time I got there, they were nowhere to be found.  I peeked in to Roux and asked where they might be, and they told me to check out Datz since they went to eat breakfast there. 

So, I continued my search and drove down the street to Datz (which would normally be a quick easy drive, but there is a lot of construction on MacDill right now, so I had to take a few detours).   When I got to Datz, I asked if they had seen the crawfish anywhere, and they hadn’t.  I went next door to their bakery, Dough, and asked around there as well.  No luck…

Just when I was walking back to my car, a guy came up telling me he was one of the crawfish!  His costume was in the car so he quickly changed into it with his friend and I snapped a photo with them.  Mission accomplished! 

Roux is located at 4205 S. MacDill Avenue, Tampa, Florida 33611 and should be open within this next month!  Check them out!