Cookin' Some Stuff: Broccoli Habanero Mac and Chee

After my last few low-effort attempts resulted in a greasy, straight-out-of-a-Velveeta ad homemade mac and chee, I decided to switch it up tonight and try a more mild and balanced cheese sauce instead of just tossing the sharp cheddar in with the hot noodles along with a stick of butter and stirring them until the three become one. Also I saw some habanero peppers after I grabbed the broccoli at the goddamn Jewel on Montrose and Broadway so I upgrayedded and added a new ingredient to the old stand-by. Check it out:

Ingredients
1 lb. pasta (I used rigatoni this time)
5 oz. Tillamook Sharp Cheddar (sliced and diced)
1-2 handfuls Mexican blend cheese (anything mild will do, but I used this because I had it around the house)
3 crowns broccoli (maybe more, maybe less)
2 habanero peppers (diced)
2 cloves garlic (diced)
1/2 cup milk (maybe more)
2/3 stick butter (maybe more, maybe less)
1-2 Tbsp. Coarse black pepper
1-2 Tbsp. yellow mustard

A couple minutes after I started boiling the water, I began slicing up the cheese into small rectangular towers, although any small shape will do, and placed a little over a half a cup of milk into a separate pan and put the stove on low to let the milk warm up. Then I added the sharp cheddar and stirred a little bit while I chopped up the garlic, peppers and broccoli.

So in saucepan one you start with the milk and get it warmed up, quickly add the sharp cheddar, let it melt and yellow the milk, add mustard and pepper whenever, then about 2 minutes before the pasta is set to be done, add the shredded cheese.

Peppered cheese sauce cookin'!

In a separate saucepan a few minutes after the pasta has started cooking, combine butter, roughly half of your broccoli, garlic and habanero and cook on medium, occasionally stirring and turning the brocc.

That haba-brocco-nero stuff

All three pans should be done around the same time. When the pasta is done, quickly drain it, put it back in the big pot, add contents of cheese pot and broccoli saucepan, stir and serve.

Roll that beautiful mac and chee footage

Add meat and/or Sriracha sauce as preferred.

It ain't Grandma Mae's Mac and Chee, but it's still damn good, and that's a very special thing.