Pale Ale Mac 'n' Cheese

I just realized it's been way too long since I put a recipe up. This weekend while home for Memorial Day, I had a lot of free time and a lot of ingredients I don't normally have in my fairly sparsely outfitted college kitchen, so I did some cooking. The results were fantastic. My favorite of the things I made was this Pale Ale Mac 'n' Cheese. Keep in mind that it is mac 'n' cheese; it can only be so good for you.  However, its a much healthier take on normal mac and has flavor for days. If you're a beer aficionado like myself, you're going to need to give this a shot.

As always, if you don't have something feel free to substitute things. There are endless beer and cheese combinations that would be just as delicious in this. My next adventure with this is going to use an amber beer. If you try other combinations, let me know in the comments!

Pale Ale Mac 'n' Cheese
Makes 10 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 package whole wheat pasta of your choice
• 1/8 cup butter
• 2-3 minced garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup all purpose flower
• 1 tablespoon ground mustard
• 2 cups skim milk
• 1-1/4 cups pale ale beer
• 1/4 cup light sour cream
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 
• 3-5 strips bacon, cooked and finely crumbled
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package for al dente.

Melt butter in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Stir in flour, mustard, and pepper until smooth. You want the consistency to be similar to Play-Doh.

Whisk in the milk, beer, and sour cream. Bring to a boil, cooking and stirring for two minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat. Stir in shredded cheddar and Swiss until melted. Add salt to taste.

Drain macaroni and stir into sauce. Spray inside of a 3 quart baking dish and transfer. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling. Top with bacon crumbles.