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Smoked Oxtail Mac and Cheese

Chef Way
No roux, no eggs, we're using the starch in the pasta to bind the sauce.
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Equipment

  • 5 Quart Stainless Steel Saucier
  • 7 x 11 Deep Baking Dish
  • Immersion Blender

Ingredients
  

  • 1 stick salted butter (113 g / 4 oz)
  • 2, 12 fl oz cans of evaporated milk (709 mL)
  • 16.9 fl oz beef bone broth (500 mL)
  • 6 g sodium citrate
  • 1 tsp pink Himalayan or sea salt, finely ground, more to taste (6 g)
  • 200 g sharp yellow cheddar cheese, medium grated, 1 year aged (0.44 lb)
  • 1 lb large elbow macoroni* (454 g)
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary (1.5 g)
  • 1 tbsp hot sauce (14 mL)
  • 1 tbsp mustard, course ground dijon (15 g)
  • ½ tsp fresh cracked black pepper (~0.70 g)
  • 180 g smoked Gouda cheese, medium grated (0.40 lb)
  • 200 g creamy havarti cheese, ½ in cubed (0.44 lb)
  • smoked oxtail, roughly chopped

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 500°F in broil mode.
  • Grease your baking pan with nonstick spray, butter, or oil.
  • Plug your immersion blender in and place it in your cooking area next to your 5 quart stainless steel saucier or stock pot.
  • Preheat your saucier on the stovetop for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
  • Adjust the heat to medium-high. Put the butter in the saucier. Press on it with a wooden spoon while stirring it around in the saucier to ensure it melts evenly. Adjust the heat of your pan higher if the butter lowers your saucier’s temperature.
  • When the butter is melted and slightly foamy, pour the bone broth and evaporated milk in.
  • Keeping heat at medium-high, add and stir in the sodium citrate and salt.
  • Stir to combine for about 20 seconds to ensure the sodium citrate is fully dissolved within the liquids.
  • Allow the temperature of the liquids to become scalding (180°F-185°F) but not yet boiling. Next, pour in the grated cheddar cheese and immediately stir with wooden spoon to prevent cheese from settling on the bottom of the pan.
  • While continuing to stir with one hand blend the cheese into the milk/bone broth with the immersion blender using your other hand. Stop stirring the wooden spoon and begin to move the immersion blender around the saucier. Do not stop blending until all the cheese is emulsified and the liquids begin to look foamy. This should take less than 1 minute total.
  • Stop blending and add the dried rosemary and continue to stir and scrape the bottom of the pan with the wooden spoon.
  • Bring the mixture up to a vigorous boil. (Don’t go overboard with the heat. You should be at medium to medium-high heat at this phase. Continue stirring every 30-45 seconds scraping the bottom of the saucier with a flat end wooden spoon. Do not walk away from the pan for longer than 1 minute.)
  • Once boiling, add in the pasta and aim to cook them for the end of the time range on the noodle's package instructions. *(i.e. when made with Skinner 6-8 minute large elbows the pasta reached al dente at minute 8. For large elbow's with a cooking range of 10-12 minutes the pasta reached al dente at minute 12.)
  • As the noodles boil and the sauce reduces, you should be stirring this mixture every 30-45 seconds, scraping the bottom and sides of the saucier to prevent clumping or scorching. Keep the pasta at a boil the entire cook. The mixture should be reducing and thickening. Watch the heat and turn it down if it’s too hot or it appears its going to boil over the sides.
  • Roughly two minutes before the pasta reaches al dente, add the mustard, hot sauce and black pepper. Stir to combine.
  • Finally, as you near the final minute of cook time check to see if the pasta is al dente by eating one. If so, add in the Havarti cheese cubes and stir to combine. Turn off the heat. Do not completely melt the Havarti cubes in the sauce. You want to have the cheese pull and stretch when you serve it which will be prevented if you fully melt it into the sauce.
  • Into your greased baking pan, add a layer of Mac and cheese, top the mac and cheese with smoked oxtail then a layer of Gouda cheese. Do this two more times for a total of three layers which use all of the Mac and cheese and smoked Gouda. Reserve a handful or two of smoked oxtail to garnish the mac and cheese at serving.
  • Place the mac and cheese into a 500°F oven set to broil for 10 minutes in the middle position of the oven. When edges begin to bubble the mac and cheese is ready.
  • Serve immediately and top with more smoked oxtail at serving.

Notes

*When made with Skinner brand 6-8 minute large elbows, the pasta reached al dente at minute 8. When made with large elbows with a cooking range of 10-12 minutes the noodles reached al dente at minute 12. The takeaway is that you will reach al dente at the end of the package instruction time range. You are free to choose the large elbow brand of your choice. I would not use small elbows as you need a bigger pasta to stand up next to the oxtail.