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Family Kitchen
Simply Outrageous Mac & Cheese – Aspen Style
There is a restaurant in Aspen, Colorado that serves some of the best mac & cheese you will ever taste. Seriously. The best. The restaurant is called Jimmy’s and if you’re ever in the area put it on your ‘must visit’ list. Jimmy’s also known for incredibly delicious crab cakes. My husband is from Maryland and even he begrudgingly admitted that Jimmy’s crab cakes may even be better than what you find in restaurants on the Chesapeake. I know I’ll get hate mail from Baltimore for saying that….
My friend Chef David Lawrence is as big of a fan of Jimmy’s as anyone. Without realizing Jimmy’s mac & cheese recipe is actually posted on the restaurant website… Dave (being Dave – a serious culinary rock star) went to a great deal of trouble in the kitchen to try and recreate the dish. He may have even outdone Jimmy because it is outrageously delicious. In the restaurant you can order regular mac or the “Jimmy Mac” which includes bacon, jalapenos and a crispy topping. This recipe is for the Jimmy Mac… but you can always remove the jalapenos to make it more kid-friendly.
Ingredients – Aspen Style Jimmy Mac & Cheese
- 1 pound large elbow macaroni
- 1 quart whole milk
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups Gruyere, grated
- 2 cups extra-sharp aged Cheddar, grated
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 1/2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced
- 1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
- Panko Bread Crumbs, for topping
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to package directions. Drain well.
Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, being careful not to boil it. Melt the butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. Whisk over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly to cook out the raw flour taste. While whisking, add the hot milk and bring to a boil, cooking until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, cheddar, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in the jalapeño and bacon and fold in the cooked macaroni. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish. Top with panko bread crumbs. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is evenly browned on the top.
Photo Credit: Chef David Lawrence
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11 Comments
Koreen commented on Sep 18 11 at 2:39 pmThis is made almost every Sunday in my country (Trinidad). We call it macaroni pie. We add flavour peppers and onions also as well as local herbs to the dish.
Kristina Churchill commented on Sep 18 11 at 7:20 pmHoly Cow…this looks fantastic!
KELLY MACK commented on Sep 19 11 at 11:37 amThis looks absolutly awesome, my family would love this . Is there a PRINTER- FRIENDLY way to print this ? It took 5 pages and lots of ink, but after looking it over it Did Not print out the ingredients, just the directions and alot of stuff that is useless to me . I will write down what I need to make this and will try it, but will not copy anything until I can get only what I need.
Jackie commented on Sep 20 11 at 2:03 am@Kelly Mack, At top of photo , just to left is a little print button, just click that to get recipe.. Which look’s Awesome, Can’t wait to make.
Joe Renn commented on Sep 21 11 at 10:15 amThe print button worked but, 4 pages later, still did not print out the ingredients. Looks like a great recipe so I’ll resort to the old standby of cursive writing to list the ingredients.
katerina l commented on Sep 22 11 at 11:02 amI agree, print does not work whether you click the print button on left side of photo or go into your own settings (when you highlight the recipe) & click select. Either way it prints but leaves own the ingredients.
Dayna commented on Sep 22 11 at 11:07 amI had the same problem Kelly. I will have to write it out also! Does someone have the answer on how to print the ingredients and directions only?
ksmms commented on Sep 22 11 at 11:19 amI couldn’t get the recipe ingredients to print properly either. I copies/pasted to a text format:
Aspen Style Jimmy Mac & Cheese
1 pound large elbow macaroni
1 quart whole milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups Gruyere, grated
2 cups extra-sharp aged Cheddar, grated
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced
1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
Panko Bread Crumbs, for topping
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to package directions. Drain well.
Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, being careful not to boil it. Melt the butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. Whisk over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly to cook out the raw flour taste. While whisking, add the hot milk and bring to a boil, cooking until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, cheddar, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in the jalapeño and bacon and fold in the cooked macaroni. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish. Top with panko bread crumbs. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is evenly browned on the top.
Photo Credit: Chef David Lawrence
Anne P commented on Oct 01 11 at 4:03 pmTried this recipe today and it’s really yummy! Not hot at all, even with the jalapenos. However, next time I make it I’ll use a cheese other than gruyere because that’s too expensive. I think the Kraft Vermont Sharp Cheddar (http://bit.ly/qNDf36) tastes similar enough that it would work just fine. Also, unless you’re feeding an army, you can easily half this recipe.
ginger commented on Jan 04 12 at 5:01 pmThanks for posting this insanely delicious looking recipe. Will try it right away.
It does need to be printer friendly. It took six pages! Printed the whole article and all of the comments.
I copied and pasted the pictures and recipes and ingredients into a word document. I reduced the size of the pictures and it came out fine on 2 pages. I didn’t print again, but just to have it saved for future.
BeachBum2U commented on Jan 05 12 at 3:49 pmThanks for posting this awesome recipe, am trying it tonight! Funny what you said about the MD crabcakes, when I lived there I learned quickly what a “big deal” they are and I do love them on the E. Coast, my first try at Oysters too!
BTW, another easy method to print, I click, drag and highlight what I want, right click the highligted area (any spot will do) then click print, you’ll see the option for “selection” and that prints only what you’ve selected.Thanks again!
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