Summer Recipes From The Phi Delt Grillmaster - Part 5

By Michael McDearman, Tennessee Delta ’97

Grilled Truffle Mac & Cheese

What You’ll Need:

1/2 lb of macaroni
1/2 stick of unsalted butter
2 T of all purpose flour
1 1/2 C of warm whole milk
1 C warm heavy cream
1 lb grated aged cheddar cheese
1/2 lb grated fontina cheese
2 T white truffle oil
A pinch ground cayenne

Grillmaster McD’s Tips, Tricks and Techniques

Sometimes, truffle oil is not made from truffles. Recipes call for white or black truffle oil. The oils are made from synthetics mixed with olive oil or grape seed oil. There is little difference. Get the one you like.

Bring a pot of water to boil over high heat on your side burner. Cook the pasta until it’s just getting al dente. Drain the pasta and run cold water over it and put it back in the pot.

In a sauce pan on medium low heat, melt the butter and stirring constantly mix in the flour. Make a peanut colored roux. Turn up the heat to medium and whisk in the milk and cream and bring to a boil while whisking frequently. Reduce the heat on the sauce to low and let it simmer for a couple minutes.

Preheat your grill to 375 degrees.

Set aside 1/2 C of the cheddar and 1/3 C of the fontina. Take the remaining cheese and mix into the sauce in 1/3 C scoops and stir the cheese until it melts before adding more. Add a pinch of cayenne and the truffle oil into the sauce. Stir 1 T of the truffle oil and the cayenne pepper into the mix. Pour the sauce over the pasta and stir well but gently. We don’t want to tear up the pasta. Season as always with salt and pepper to taste. Take ramekins and place the pasta in them with the reserved cheeses sprinkled over the tops of the dishes.

If you’d like a bit of a smokey depth, take a foil packet with forked holes in it and some water-soaked smoke wood chips and set it near the coals or burner to start their smoking process. Grill for 20-30 minutes or until you are getting the cheese sauce bubbly and the top is browning nicely. Remove from the heat and drizzle the remaining truffle oil over the ramekins. Rest them for 5 minutes and you could add scallions for some color or even some pimento peppers for sweetness (a true southern addition – the Carolinas). Yum!

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