Spicy Southwest Meatloaf Mac-n-Cheese
Just because you’re dealing with leftovers doesn’t mean you can’t be creative. Macaroni and Cheese is the perfect vehicle for nearly all leftovers. Several nights ago we ate a spicy southwest mac & cheese made using crumbled leftover meatloaf, sauteed onions, red peppers, cherry tomatoes, and cheddar. The dish was seasoned with spicy chipotle puree, smokey cumin, and fresh cilantro, then topped with a mixture of panko and parmesan. Freshly sliced avocado served as a delightful garnish.
T: Today will go down in history as the day of no flies flying. In our apartment.
A: you should be ashamed of yourself, Tyler! killing all those innocent flies! what did the flies ever do to you?!? 😉
T: they were born of satan, that’s what.
A: cool… that’s a good enough excuse for me… die, satan flies, die!
T: there’s one left. and he must die. come to me..
A: uh, dude… the fly can’t read…
T: ahh, but he came, didn’t he? And then he left, the bastard
A: yup… you know, killing flies isn’t the only thing we should be ashamed of. It been a week since we’ve last shared all the goodies we’ve been eating.
T: That is a shame. It’s getting to be almost impossible to get daylight shots. Time to figure out some good indoor lighting.
A: we used the homemade light box for this shot, and it didn’t come out too bad, huh?
T: just not the glorious sunlight we’re used to.
A: true dat… uh, T? you still seem a bit distracted by the fly in the room
T continues to chase the fly and ignore the food blog
T: would you rather have that now-dead fly still buzzing??
A: perhaps! we’re here to focus on the food, hommes. not the flies… although if we ate the nearly 40 flies you’ve killed tonight we could have had quite the serving of protien.
T: yikes. Ok now that’s just gross. Yuck. I wouldn’t even think of… ew you’re just nasty.
A: there are people all over the world who would kill for that mass of flies. just because we silly americans don’t eat them, doesn’t mean they’re not good eats for someone else!
T: ummm… right. Yeah. My feeling on eating the flies hasn’t changed.
A: well how about your feelings on the usage of leftover meatloaf in the spicy southwest mac & cheese?
T: killer. It was super-tasty. I especially liked the cheesy top layer. It was more than just a cheesy top-layer, though. what was going on there?
A: the topping for this is super simple: just panko and parmesan. that’s it.
T: I’ve never heard of panko. Sounds like a video game for the atari. What is it?
A: was atari japanese? because panko is japanese breadcrumbs. they are light and airy and crispy and delightful.
T: they worked as a cheesy-top-layer extender. I liked em.
A: me too. mac and cheese doesn’t always have the most exciting textural aspects but adding the panko top-layer gives it a nice crispy crunchity goodness.
T: fortunately not too crunchity. A nice crisp, without being too crunchy aka crunchity.
A: fo sho… mac and cheese is one of those things that i always have the ingredients for, and it’s a dish that always welcomes leftover ingredients readily. you can pretty much take any leftovers and put them in some fresh mac and cheese and have a glorious meal.
T: I never thought of it, but that’s so true. This was quite a fiesty macaroni and cheese too. Very spicy. An excellent level of spice.
A: nice and smokey too. both the chipotles and the cumin added to the wonderful spicy smokiness.
T: mmm indeed. I love cumin. And chipotles. I give it a 4.4/5.
A: i also really liked this dish, even if it was a leftovers meal. I give it a 4.334/5. i would make it again even if i didn’t have leftover meatloaf to use up.
T: would you make meatloaf and then put that in? Or would you use something else?
A: i definately wouldn’t make a whole meatloaf just for this meal. i think you could easily substitute the leftover meatloaf with browned fresh chorizo, or seasoned ground turkey or beef, or even cooked chicken pieces. really, any meat would do.
T: Chorizo sounds nice.
A: agreed… hmmm… nice…juicy…spicy…sausages.
T: Mmm… hey mandy, you know what I just realized?
A: that you’re gonna get your butt kicked if you call me mandy again?
T: I’ve called you mandy many times. You’ve often threatened a butt-kicking. I’ve never received a butt-kicking. I’m no longer afraid. 😛
A: hmm… perhaps i need to make a serious threat to get my point across… Call me Mandy again and i won’t cook for you anymore.
T: well now Ma… Amandy, that’s not nice!
A: neither is calling me Mandy, tylah…
T: I am not “Tylah.” I am Tyler, maker of tiles.
A: oh sure, you are sweetie… you make lots of tiles… 😉
T: I make so many tiles you don’t even know. That’s what I do, I make m-F’n tiles.
A: where do you put these tiles? are they cyber-tiles?
T: they’re any kinda tile i want em to be.
A: well then! didn’t you have something you just realized that you wanted to tell me?
T: oh yeah. We haven’t blogged about dessert in a very long time. 😐
A: that is a very grave truth! it definately deserves a straight face. i’m working on that! the next post we make will be a dessert post.
T: is that a … promise?
A: you betcha!
I love it. Long live leftovers, and especially repurposing of meatloaf. Heck, who can really object to both Meatloaf and Mac and Cheese–asides from Vegetarians.
Red rover, Red Rover send that meatloafy-crunchity-cheesy-spicy mac-n-cheese right over! It looks delicious!
oooooh you guys, yum! i think that is the most sophisticated m&c i’ve ever seen. it just looks wonderful with the chipotle and panko, so creative i want a big bowl right now.
That mac n cheese looks very very good. I am surprised you said it was leftovers.
Hey guys!!! Looking great as usual!!!! (insert cheesy smiley face here)
wow that looks fab. I am also into cooking leftovers into something new since and I learned that from my grandma!
I have to say that you guys have what at a quick glance looks like a pretty fine diet! I particularly like the look of the gourmet mac and cheese and the meatloaf stack… looks might fine to me.
Husband, thanks you! seriously… meatloaf!… mac&cheese! who could think of a more comforting combo. i’m sure there are dead reknown chefs rolling over in their graves over this one, but my goodness, was it tasty!
Red rover, red rover, send ms. feather right over! (if you come i’ll feed you meeeeaaaatloaf!) 🙂
aria, you should totally make it! i know it would be awesome if you did (seeing as how everything you make looks incredible)! i love mac&cheese because it’s so willing to take on whatever flavors you want to throw at it.
thanks nguyen! the mac&cheese wasn’t leftovers… the meatloaf that got added into the m&c was! just trying to use up all the food and not throw anything away, you know? 🙂
well look at you, wes! dropping in and telling your friends hello! are you guys still talking about comming out here for thanksgiving? miss you guys!
charles, aren’t grandma’s great at that? 🙂 they didn’t grow up being wasteful (like our generation is, at least here in the u.s.). i definately don’t like to throw food away.
why thank you, Tim! we definately don’t go hungry… unless i just don’t feel like cooking…. which is more frequent than i care to admit. then we eat chinese dumplings… hmm… anyway! thanks again, and btw, i really dig your site too. it’s new but very well done 🙂 keep up the great work.
Hi! This looks really good to me right now ‘couse I am Fasting,He!He!He!.
My mum use to do all kind of things with the leftovers 🙂 >
Thanks for sharing
Wish you well!!
hi! the queerchef pimped me here! wow that looks yummy!!!!! mmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!
This look delicious, as usual! By the way, I’m making one of your recipes tonight, Amanda. I’m not telling which one…you’ll have to check the write up in a day or two!
What’s the progess on the cheesy top-layer appetizer, Tyler? I like to have crunch in my mac n cheese too. I actually…this may sound weird…think crushed onion and garlic potato chips taste awesome on mac n cheese.
Sounds yummy! I like the suggestion of adding fresh chorizo…might have to try that soon since I’m in california now and can actually get the stuff!
Hey – the Mac & Cheese looks out of this world (as does everything you post!). How did you put it together? Mostly, how do you make smokey chipotle puree?
seriously, what is UP with the japanese breadcrumbs and how can i gets me some?