Ok, so if you live in Houston, please don’t tell my mama that I made backed macaroni and cheese without using yellow cheese. We Southerners love our mac ‘n cheese. So much that you will find it on the menu of many high-end restaurants – of course it will be made using truffles, aged Gouda  or some other type of artisan cheese. Tip: In Texas, if you make macaroni and cheese with processed cheese, you are not allowed to call it macaroni and cheese or mac ‘n cheese; you have made “cheesy pasta”. I digress.

This my is first attempt at some type of artisanal mac n’ cheese so there I did not include the traditional yellow cheddar. But I love yellow… it brings back memories of my college days , making it off of $25/week in grocery. I needed some yellow.. ahhh dry mustard. So here’s the dish. I hope you enjoy.

8 oz. Pipette Rigate or Pipe Rigate (I found that the smaller pipette will be cheesier)

Pipe Rigate

4 oz butter
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/ tsp dry yellow mustard
2 tbsp. sour cream
6oz milk
3 oz aged Gruyere
3 oz sharp cheddar
1/4 cup panko

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Bring a large saucepan to boil. Add a 1/4 tsp salt and teaspoon of oil. Add the 8 oz of rigate and cook until al dente, about 11-12 minutes.

In a separate bowl shred the 2 cheeses and mix together.

In a separate bowl, add butter, sour cream, nutmeg, salt,  black pepper, and dry mustard. After the pasta is cooked, drain it, then add it to the bowl. Gently mix in the pasta.

Add a layer of pasta to an oven safe pan. Add 1/3 of the cheese over the layer. Add another layer of the pasta and cover with the remaining cheese, then shake panko over the top. Put in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, switch the oven to broil at 450 degrees and broil for 5 minutes. Remove from oven allow to cool. Serve and enjoy

I talk with a lot people who are unsure what to do with ground bison aka buffalo. Ground bison is well known as being a leaner and often an organic substitute for regular ground beef. Beyond this, bison does have a distinct taste that is different than it’s beef counterpart; it just needs to be coerced out a little bit. Here is a dish that does just that. The flavour of the bison blends well in this simple fusilli pasta dish.  I used fusilli pasta since it has the advantage of picking up more sauce in the skillet than other types of pastas.

8 oz uncooked large fusilli
3bsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
1 minced clove garlic
1 1lb. ground bison
1/2 cup water with 1/2 tsp beef bouillon
1 cup no salt tomato sauce
2 oz Parmesan reggiano
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
12 cherry tomatoes cut into halves
4 tbsp goat cheese crumbles
black pepper, crushed red pepper and salt to taste

Tip: For restaurant style pasta , work on the sauce while the pasta is boiling so that the pasta can be added soon after the sauce is ready.

Heat a pot of water with 1 tsp kosher salt and 1 tbsp. olive oil. Boil the tagliatelle for 8-9 minutes until al dente

Add 1/2 tsp beef bouillon to 1/2 cup hot water, stir, dissolve and set aside.

Heat 3 tbsp of olive oil on medium in a large pan or skillet. Add onions, garlic, and cook for 2 minutes. Add ground bison and cook until meat is almost completely browned. Bring heat down 1 notch and add oregano, thyme, beef bouillon, then tomato sauce. Cook for 5 minutes.

Add drained pasta, and stir in. Then add Parmesan reggiano and stir in. Plate, then add cherry tomatoes and goat cheese crumbles.

Add black pepper, crushed red pepper and salt to taste