If you haven’t heard of the bacon wrap taco shell yet, be prepared to have your mind blown. Unlike the failed Taco Bell bacon taco, the bacon wrap shell taco is a step in the right direction for both the popular, tasty meat and the beloved Mexican dish.
As if the idea of a taco shell created entirely out of bacon wasn’t appetizing enough, swapping out the various mixture of meat, beans, lettuce, and tomatoes for some good old American mac and cheese should get your taste buds watering. What’s better than that? Why, a beer mac and cheese, of course!
Getting Started
To create the bacon wrap shell taco, you’ll need bacon—that’s it. Nice and simple, just a package of bacon. Brand and flavor are totally up to you.
The ingredient list for the beer mac and cheese is slightly more complex, however. To create this dish, you’ll need to get your hands on an IPA beer, Monterey Jack cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, heavy cream, whole milk, condensed milk, unsalted butter, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, a box of pasta (whichever is your favorite), and mustard.
You’ll need to dig out that slow cooker you got as a housewarming present all those years ago, too.
The Nitty Gritty
Empty the box of pasta you chose into the slow cooker. Toss in four tablespoons of the unsalted butter, a squeeze of mustard, a few dashes of both the hot sauce and the Worcestershire sauce. While you can select whatever hot sauce suits your tastes best, try to avoid Sriracha, as this particular blend overpowers the cheesy-ness of the dish.
Dairy, Dairy, Quite Contrary
Now, pour in the whole and condensed milks, the heavy cream, and half of the IPA you selected. Add all three kinds of cheese, grated, to the mix.
Once you’ve combined the ingredients in the slow cooker, it’s time to get cooking. Let the mixture cook on low for two to three hours. This will be sufficient enough time to allow the liquid ingredients to be absorbed and for the pasta to cook thoroughly.
After two to three hours, switch the slow cooker to the warm setting (or off entirely if yours doesn’t have this option), and add a 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese. No need to stir. Letting the cheese melt directly on top will give the dish a good coloring as well as a gooey layer.
Bacon Makes The World Go Round
Here comes the tricky part. Take the bacon and literally weave it, just like a basket. Place the woven bacon sheet onto an elevated cooking area, like a wire rack, and cook it to be medium to medium-well (think 425 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes).
Once you’ve reached this point, take a bowl, place it over your bacon wrap sheet, and trace around it with a pizza cutter. Drain the bacon grease, turn off your oven, and place the shell back in to finalize cooking using leftover heat trapped inside.
After 15 to 20 minutes, remove the shell and pack it with the now-finished beer mac and cheese.
Now, enjoy! Oh, and you know how we only used half a can of that IPA? It goes great with your dinner. Drink up!
