Recipe: Mardi Gras Food - Chiqui's Pulled Pork, Chiqui's Macaroni and Cheese Italian Style

Mardi Gras is fast approaching and we will be attending parades all day Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday. In preparation for these all day events, I making a couple of tried and true dishes that are good hot or room temp. Since I'll be going to my cousin's house (which just happens to be on the parade route,LOL) I'll be bringing along the following dishes:

Chiqui's Pulled Pork

1- Boneless Pork Butt at least 5 pounds (These go on sale all the time for about $.89 a pound so get a big one and freeze it in portions after it is cooked. It reheats beautifully in the microwave!!)

Rinse and pat dry the meat. Take a very sharp knife and make about 10-15 slits in the fatty side of the meat and fill the slits with slivers of garlic.

In a small bowl combine the following dry ingredients:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp. Tony's seasoning (to your taste)
1-2 tsp. Lemom-pepper
1 1/2 tsp. granulated garlic
2 tbsp. Coleman's dry mustard powder
1-2 tbsp. liquid smoke

Mix well and rub all over the pork butt. Wrap meat in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Early in the morning, place the meat on a rack (you can use a cookie cooling rack if you like) and place in a large roasting pan. Pour 1 cup of water in the pan and loosely cover the roast with foil. Let roast sit out for two hours to come to room temperature.

Place in a 250* oven and roast for at least 7 hours.......longer if the roast is larger....figure about one hour and fifteen min. (1:15) per pound. Uncover the roast for the last two hours. (No need to baste) Allow the meat to rest for about 10 min. after removing from the oven and then, while still warm, take two forks and "pull" the meat to form shreds. Place in another pan and top with a moderate anount of your favorite barbeque sauce. (I like good ole Kraft Hickory or Mesquite Smoked Sauce..but you use whatever your favorite is!!)

The traditional way to serve this in on heated buns dressed with a good crispy coleslaw and sliced dill pickles. Enjoy!!

Chiqui's Macaroni and Cheese Italian Style

2 lbs. Macaroni (your choice) cooked "al dente" (still a litle chewy)drained and set aside

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2 bunch green onions and tops, thinly sliced
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tbsp. Coleman's Dry Mustard
Lemon-pepper to taste

1 1/2 quarts milk and 1 can evaporated milk
1 package (2 lbs) Velveeta cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes
8 cloves garlic, finely minced

In a large skillet melt butter. Stir in green onions and saute 2 min. Stir in the flour and cook for about 5 min. stirring constantly. Add the dry mustard and the lemon-pepper. Bring the milk to the boiling point in a seperate pot. Stir into the flour/green onion mixture, stirring with a whisk to blend well. Stir in the Velveeta and the evaporated milk and continue stirring until cheese is melted.

If mixture appears too thick, it can be thinned out with a little cold milk until it reaches the desired consistency.

Place the cooked pasta in a buttered casserole dish. Pour cheese sauce over all and then stir in the raw garlic. Mix well. Lightly sprinkle the dish with 1/2 cup of Bread Crumbs tossed in 2 tabsp. melted butter, if desired. Bake at 325* until heated and bubbly. Approx. 20-25 min.

This makes a lot and can be either halved or you can make the full recipe and freeze half of it uncooked and use it another time. It can be baked frozen just be sure to adjust the time accordingly!!

Of course a huge pan of brownies or some home baked cookies will also accompany these dishes. They will be placed on a table with huge pots of red beans and rice, gumbo and jambalaya, too!!