Mac and What?

I was watching a fascinating piece about The Grilled Cheese Truck on food-related TV recently, and could not believe my eyes! A sandwich, made with macaroni and cheese? With Barbecue pork? And more cheese? And caramelized onions? Oh, it was ON! I had to make it! So the quest began.....could I duplicate this famous and decadent sandwich? Well, here's how I tried.....first make ye some macaroni and cheese...I used mostaccioli, because I thought its length would be good in a sandwich. While it was cooking, I caramelized the onions as well....multi-tasking!

Then, I made a roux with butter and flour...just a regular roux for the cheese sauce...

I selected the cheeses for the sauce...sharp cheddar, Swiss and goat cheese....

Meanwhile, the onions were caramelized, so I put them aside to cool...

Then I added chicken stock and the cheeses to the roux, and stirred to thicken into a cheese sauce..

A few seasonings later...and we've got cheesy goodness!

I put the now-completed mac and cheese into a  pan to cool completely...you must do this step so that you can cut it into squares for your sandwich. There were many mostaccioli that did not make it into the fridge....uh...yeah, it was total snacking  quality control!

I microwaved my leftover barbecue pork rib meat, with some extra sauce thrown in...hey, you can never have too much barbecue sauce!

Now comes sandwich assembly time. The bread is coated with a mayonnaise/butter mixture (I know...I ate salads for two days after this), and placed in a non-stick pan...

While it was cooking, I laid down the foundation of cheddar cheese. You are supposed to use those squares of "cheese type product", but I refuse to use fake cheese...layering commencing....

Then, the cooled and cut macaroni and cheese....

Then, the leftover barbecue pork.....

And of course, since it's not decadent enough.....a layer of the caramelized onions!

You then grill up the sandwich like you would a normal grilled cheese sandwich. That top slice also has a cheddar cheese layer as well.

How do you achieve golden crispy-ness without a panini press? Use a cast iron, or heavy skillet....this is how I did mine....

The result? Lets just say this....after tasting how rich and delicious this sandwich was, I told myself that I would only eat half of it. But, somewhere along the way, my brain thought about how good hot sauce would be on it......and, well.....it was gone!

The moral of the story? Be careful when attempting to re-create a dish you see on TV....you might be lurking in dangerously tasty territory....behold the cheesy mac & rib goodness....

And yes, as you might have guessed....this is not diet food. Every now and again, even I stray to something that is less-than-healthy! So what! Variety IS the spice of life, after all.

Plus....I ate salad for lunch for two days after this.....and took fish oil......and shoveled snow.....and....and....and...OK, I think I mitigated any artery-clogging that went on in here!

What is your favorite food to indulge in when you are being "naughty"? Chocolate? Wine? Do tell !

Eat well, my friends.....and stay tuned for the two-day process of making Italian ciabatta bread from scratch! The crusty outside, the light-as-a-feather inside....oh my word.....gotta go eat something now! Love and kindness to all...

                                                                              Pixie