Heartbreak Mac’n Cheese

Recipe by: Clement Pedro

For the smoky pulled eisbein:

3 Large smoked eisbein hocks
2 Carrots, roughly chopped
2 Celery stalks roughly chopped
2 Onions, roughly chopped
2 Bay leaves
Enough water to just cover the ingredients

Place the eisbeins, carrots, celery, onions and bay leaves in a large pot and pour enough water to just cover all the ingredients. Place on a medium heat and cook for an hour or until the meat begins to pull from the bone of the eisbein.
Remove the eisbein and strain the remaining liquid discarding all the remaining ingredients. Reserve the smoky liquid.
Once cooled: Shred chunks of the meat of the bone and set aside.

For the Mac and cheese

5T Butter
5T Cake flour
2 cups Milk
2 cups Reserved smoky stock
¼ t Fresh nutmeg
2 cups Mature cheddar,grated
100g Blue cheese
Pulled eisbein meat
500g Macaroni, cooked

For the topping:
Panko breadcrumbs or crushed cheese flavor doritos

For the mac’n cheese: Melt the butter over a medium heat before adding the flour and stirring with a wooden spoon to combine the 2 ingredients. Cook for another 1 minute before adding the milk and smoky stock. The sauce should be the consistency of pancake batter, if too thin simply stir through another tablespoon of flour, if too thick add a little extra smoky stock.
Bring to a gentle simmer before adding nutmeg and the cheeses a little at a time while stirring through to form a cheese sauce.
Add the pulled eisbein meat and mix through before checking for seasoning.
Stir through the cooked macaroni, having more sauce than macaroni.
Pour into a greased oven dish before topping with panko breadcrumbs or if you’re feeling extra daring all willing to go the whole way top it with crushed cheese flavor Nacho chips.

Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 35 minutes or until the sauce is golden and bubbling over.