Smoked Short Ribs Mac & Cheese

Directions

• Pulled Short Rib Mac & Cheese
• Put a big helping of mac & cheese into a bowl
• Set a pile of pulled short rib meat on top
• Drizzle with BBQ sauce
• Garnish with chopped green onion
• Smoked Short Ribs
• Pat the meat dry with paper towels. Season heavily with salt/pepper/garlic mixture, making sure to coat all sides.
• Cook on smoker at between 225-250 degrees Fahrenheit until the internal temperature of the meat is 205 degrees (around 8 hours).
• After the first 2 hours, lightly spritz the meat with beef broth every 30 minutes or so.
• When meat is done cooking, remove from smoker, wrap in 2 layers of aluminum foil and allow to rest for 1 full hour.
• Mac & Cheese
• Bring pot of salted water up to boiling (while it’s coming to a boil, you can do the next few steps).
• In a soup pot, large saucepan, or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat.
• In the melted butter, saute the onion and jalapeno for a couple minutes until softened.
• Add the flour and thoroughly whisk everything into a buttery paste. Cook for 1 full minute, whisking frequently.
• Gradually begin pouring in the half & half, whisking frequently. Pour some in, whisk, pour some more in, repeat.
• Then do the same for the whole milk. Pour, whisk, pour, whisk. Once all half & half and whole milk are incorporated, let it all come up to a low simmer, stirring regularly.
• Add dry pasta to the boiling water. Cook until not quite “al dente”. The pasta should be slightly under-cooked when it comes out of the boiling water.
• Gradually stir in 3 cups of the shredded cheese, a handful at a time. When all the cheese is completely melted in and smooth, stir in the salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder.
• Fold and stir the strained pasta into the cheese sauce.
• Transfer half of the mac & cheese into a deep baking dish (If using in the smoker, I prefer to use a disposable aluminum baking dish). Spread the mac & cheese out evenly across the baking dish. Sprinkle half of the remaining cheese over top.
• Transfer the reset of the mac & cheese into the baking dish, atop the previous layer of sprinkled shredded cheese. Then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of that.
• Bake at 325-350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes (either in the oven or smoker). If the previous steps were done in advance and the mac & cheese has been refrigerated, this baking time will be longer. The inside should be hot, and the top should be melty and bubbly.