Chipotle macaroni and cheese with bacon

I’m roasting chiles and frying up bacon. What am I making, you might ask? What everybody wants to eat after being ill for a few days: chipotle macaroni and cheese. With bacon, of course.

OK, so this might seem a bit heavy for a re-entry into the land of the normal eating, but let me tell you—I’m hungry! And while the best thing I can say about not feeling well is that your skinny jeans are suddenly a viable option in your wardrobe, in the end I’d rather be well than ill. Though who wouldn’t? But let’s talk about chipotle macaroni and cheese, shall we?

My family, much like yours I reckon, has always made homemade macaroni and cheese. Sure, we’d have the box stuff on hand for after-school snacks or donations to the church food pantry, but in my house the real, homemade stuff was what was preferred.



Mom makes her macaroni and cheese in a variety of ways, but my favorite is a casserole of pasta suspended in a luscious sauce comprised of egg yolks, cheese and heavy cream. And just when you think it couldn’t be any more extravagant, she throws in diced, thick ham and tops it off with buttery breadcrumbs.
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Uncle Austin's Mexican pancakes with coconut

The day before Ash Wednesday? Yep, I’m a pancake eater. I grew up in an Episcopalian family and that’s how we rolled—in warm griddlecakes and cold glasses of milk. And even though most of my friends prepare for Lent in a more colorful style, old traditions are hard to shake and I still enjoy a tall stack of pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.

Pancakes might not be shiny beads, feathered costumes, fevered dancing or boisterous singing, but they don’t have to be completely boring. I’ve been known to serve gingerbread pancakes, buttermilk pancakes, banana nut pancakes and chocolate chip pancakes. But to truly get in the frenzied spirit on the eve of Lent, Uncle Austin’s coconut pancakes (more colorfully known as Uncle Austin's Mexican pancakes) are a definite must.



When I was young, Austin would make these pancakes for us on special occasions. Their main attraction was their size—he’d make one pancake the entire width of a 10-inch pan. And you didn’t even have to share this big baby—no way—this over-sized coconut pancake was all for you!
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Mexican chocolate pralines

When I was invited to a party where Southern pork dishes were being celebrated, the decision on what to bring was a no-brainer: Mexican chocolate pralines. Now before you call my contribution a little odd, let me explain myself.

My first (and more obvious) choice was to make cookies with lard. I didn’t have any lard on hand, however, so I went to the Union Square farmers’ market to pick up a tub. But a snowstorm had threatened to blanket the city and my preferred lard vendor wasn’t there; clearly, I had to come up with another plan.

I’ve been spending lots of time lately reading old cookbooks. I’m curious to see what our ancestors ate and to see when certain dishes may have come into the common culinary vernacular. When looking for inspiration, I recalled that I had recently come across an old Mexican-candy recipe that called for piloncillo (or brown sugar) to be cooked with water and a strip of raw bacon.



Now, I know bacon in a dessert is a trendy thing these days, but I was intrigued to see it listed in a 100-year-old recipe. And while I didn’t have lard to make cookies, bacon was easily attainable. In another cookbook, I had seen a recipe for Mexican-chocolate pralines. So for the pork-themed feast, I decided to combine the two thoughts and make Mexican-chocolate pralines with bacon.
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Chicken and sausage gumbo

Growing up in Houston, I was no stranger to chicken and sausage gumbo. The city’s close proximity to Louisiana’s Cajun country insured that I knew plenty of kids with family names such as Boudreaux, Guidry or Hebert, whose parents often had a big pot of the chunky soup simmering on the stove. After an afternoon of riding bikes, you could walk into one of these kitchens, grab a bowl and ladle a portion thick with smoky, succulent meats over a pile of rice. Gumbo is good and during the cold months it was almost as prevalent as chili in my part of town.

With the New Orleans Saints going to the Super Bowl for the first time, the decision about what to make on the big day is simple. Sure, quarterback Drew Brees may be a Texan but my Super Bowl plan is to cook a big pot of chicken and sausage gumbo. And while I’ve long been a gumbo eater for some reason, however, I’ve never been much of a gumbo maker. So when I needed advice, I turned to Ken Wheaton.



Ken Wheaton, who lives in Brooklyn but hails from Opelousas, Louisiana, is famous in certain New York City circles for his gumbo. So much that when his editor caught wind of his prowess, he insisted that Ken include his recipe in his excellent new novel, The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival.
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