Spicy Pepper Jack Mac and Cheese with Almond Breaded Pork Chops

Inspiration is everywhere. You can even steal inspiration from other people. For example, I decided I had to make pepper jack mac and cheese while waiting in the line at the grocery store. The lady in front of me was giving whoever was on the other end of her cell phone ideas on how to jazz up traditional macaroni. I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation. She made some pretty decent suggestions like adding crab, broccoli, or blue cheese. But she really caught my attention with, “How about using pepper jack cheese? Make it spicy?” She goes on to mention a few other ideas that I can’t recall and eventually the conversation fads back to another topic, but the pepper jack cheese idea sticks with me. I am usually so conventional with my mac and cheese (colby, straight up), but what if… I couldn’t get the idea out of my head. I was already in the check-out line, so it would have been pretty ridiculous to get out of line to go buy the ingredients for the dish right then and there- right? haha… Right.

As for the main course, I decided on pork chops breaded in almond flour. Wheat flour is not allowed on Ed’s Paleolithic diet, so I have been using a lot of almond flour recently, which is fun and different but pretty darn expensive. One 16oz package of Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour costs about $12 (yeah, ouch). Additionally, I realize serving cheese-ridden wheat macaroni pretty much negates the entire paleo diet effort, but, after all, marriage is about compromise. 

To serve on the pork chop, I made a quick cilantro, green onion, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar dressing. I also served up some grilled vegetables, carrots and broccoli, just what I had on hand. I left the veggies on the grill for a few minutes on each side and served them plain alongside the mac and cheese and pork chops. 

So, below is our idea of a happy medium. Hopefully, even if you don’t make these exact same recipes, you will be influenced by my stolen inspiration to serve up a little compromise of your own. 

Pepper Jack Mac and Cheese Ingredients

1 cup Elbow Macaroni

¼ cup Butter

 3 tbsp Flour

1/8 tsp Dry Mustard

2 cups Milk

1 cup Pepper Jack Cheese

1 cup Colby Jack Cheese

1 cup Toasted Bread

2 tbsp Olive Oil

Salt and pepper

Chili Powder

Pepper Jack Mac and Cheese Directions

(To get the quantities right, I used the directions from the back of the macaroni box). Preheat the oven to 350. Cook elbow macaroni per the directions on the box. While the macaroni is cooking, melt the butter in a large saucepan, then add the flour, mustard, salt and pepper. Cook the flour mixture until it is bubbly. Gradually add in the milk. Continue to stir the mixture until it starts to boil. After the mixture starts to boil, add the different types of cheese stirring continuously until all of the cheese is melted and the mixture is smooth. Then leave it simmer while you drain the water from the pasta. Then add the pasta to the cheese mixture. Carefully mix it all together and then transfer the mac and cheese to an oven safe casserole dish. Optionally, you can add a bit of crunch on top by taking some toast cut into small squares and mix in a bowl with some olive oil and then place the toasted bread on top. Finally, sprinkle the mac and cheese with chili powder. Bake in the oven about 25 minutes.

Almond Breaded Pork Chops

2 Pork Chops

1 cup of Almond Flour

1 egg

1-2 tbsp of your favorite dried seasonings from your kitchen (I used oregano, basil, and garlic powder)

Salt and pepper

Almond Breaded Pork Chops Recipe

Pre heat oven to 425F. Pound pork chops with a meat tenderizer. Beat one egg in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the almond flour, salt, pepper, and desired dried herbs. Dip the meat in the egg and then dip it in the flour mixture covering the pork chop completely. Carefully place the floured pork chops in a greased oven safe dish. Then, I drizzled the top of the pork chops with a little bit of olive oil. Cook the chops for around 30 minutes or until they reach the internal temperature of 160F. 

Ed's Verdict: Ed really loved the pepper jack mac and cheese. He thought that the little bit of spice was just right. "It's the way mac and cheese should always taste". As for the pork chop, he had a hard time getting past the dressing. He majorly dislikes balsamic vinegar. I know this. Normally I can disguise the taste enough among other ingredients that he doesn't really notice it, but I guess I used a little too much with this dressing. He did love the pork chop, though (after he scraped off half of the dressing!) Yes, compromise indeed.