Kelsey Barnard Clark shares a secret to flavorful mac and cheese

As Top Chef Season 16 winner, Kelsey Barnard Clark is a master in the kitchen. In this mac and cheese recipe, she has a secret ingredient that might be in your refrigerator.

Although the home cook might not be a Top Chef, Kelsey Barnard Clark has a few easy cooking tricks that any aspiring foodie can use in her own home kitchen. As more people gain confidence in the kitchen, the idea of learning to cook their favorite comfort foods, like mac and cheese, is soaring. For Clark, she has a little secret to cooking a flavorful mac and cheese.

During the Super Bowl, Clark partnered with Yuengling, specifically Sheryl Yuengling, to create some flavorful, delicious recipes using Yuengling Beer. Since many people have a bottle of the America’s Oldest Brewery’s lager in the refrigerator, that traditional lager can be more than a beverage pairing. Why not cook with it?

Recently, Clark and Yuengling hosted an online cooking class that showed how to make Lager Mac and Cheese. Of course, this recipe uses the iconic Yuengling lager as its special ingredient.

Beer is used in a variety of recipes. From beer in a seafood boil to baking bread, beer is more than a frosty cold one enjoyed at a barbecue.

Specifically thinking about the Yuengling lager, this beer has some caramel notes. Those sweeter notes in the amber beer often pair well with rich, comfort food type recipes, like mac and cheese.

Here’s the recipe that Clark and Yuengling shared during the event.

A couple of items are interesting about this recipe. First, the recipe used two types of cheeses, cheddar and gouda. The combination of cheese adds a richness and depth to the dish’s flavor.

Second, the Yuengling adds a lightness to the richness of the sauce. While it might seem counter-intuitive, the beer balances the other flavors. Just like beer makes a tempura batter lighter, it has a similar method here.

Lastly, Clark uses pork rinds as her textural element. While many people use breadcrumbs as a topping, the pork rinds bring a bolder flavor to the mac and cheese. The most important thing to remember with the pork rinds is to keep them crunchy. A soggy pork rind is never a good thing.

This recipe is just one example how to cook with beer. Maybe the next time you purchase some Yuengling, make it a 12 pack, not just a six pack. Those extra beers could be the secret to making some of your favorite recipes even more tasty.

Have you cooked with beer? What are your favorite recipes that use beer?