00:00You're watching Essence Now, I'm your host, Makon Zlobu, and as you can see, we've stepped
00:09into the lovely kitchen to talk what else?
00:13Food!
00:14Joining me is Chef Lexi to show us how to remix a popular Thanksgiving side dish, not
00:18one, but two different ways, so you're not stuck eating the same old leftovers over and
00:23over again.
00:24We have our mac and cheese.
00:25You don't have to reheat it.
00:26All you have to do is make sure it's really, really cold, and you use a scooper to scoop
00:29it out.
00:30That's a good point.
00:31So you just keep it cold.
00:32Keep it really cold.
00:33Okay.
00:34How big should the balls be?
00:35The ball about one inch, but if you don't have a scooper like I do, you can just cut it in
00:39nice little squares, and then you can just dredge it.
00:42Make sure you use one hand for dry.
00:43Okay.
00:44What are we dipping in now?
00:45So we're dipping in a little flour with salt and pepper, and your other hand for wet.
00:49For wet.
00:50And that's eggs?
00:51This is egg wash.
00:52Eggs and milk all together.
00:53Eggs and milk mixed in together.
00:54Okay.
00:55And then the ball crumbs at the end.
00:56Ooh.
00:57Fancy.
00:58Make it nice and crunchy.
00:59Now do you have to make it a certain size ball or the ball size really?
01:01I like to keep it on the smaller side because you don't want it to break.
01:04I see.
01:05So.
01:06Okay.
01:07It's making a little bit there, but no worries.
01:08No worries.
01:09We're keeping it together.
01:10We're keeping it together.
01:11Okay.
01:12And we're going to fix it up.
01:13And if it does break, you can actually lower it in.
01:15Mm-hmm.
01:16And that way you don't have to worry about it breaking.
01:18How long should you fry it for in there?
01:19You fry it for about 10 minutes.
01:2110 minutes?
01:22Yeah.
01:23Okay.
01:24And as long as it's golden brown, you're good to go.
01:25Okay.
01:26Because it's already cooked.
01:27So all you're doing is reheating it and making it yours.
01:28All right.
01:29On to my favorite part.
01:30Yes.
01:31Let's taste it.
01:32Let's taste it.
01:33Yes.
01:34And this is what it's going to look like.
01:35Okay.
01:37Amazing.
01:38Mmm.
01:39So good.
01:40Girl.
01:41Oh my God.
01:44This is delicious.
01:46Oh my gosh.
01:47Okay.
01:48What else do you have for us as I chow down on this?
01:50Now I'm going to make the same mac and cheese, but let's add some sausages, some spinach, and
01:57even more cheese.
01:58Oh, okay.
01:59Even more cheese.
02:00Even more cheese.
02:01Excuse me.
02:02And then we're using the same batch of macaroni.
02:03Same batch of macaroni.
02:04Okay.
02:05Yes.
02:06So now I'm just going to add some butter to my pan.
02:09Okay.
02:10Now this macaroni is still, do you warm it up or it's the cold?
02:14I mean, I would like to have it room temperature.
02:16So you set it out for a couple of minutes just to get it room temperature.
02:19It'll be easier to warm back up back in the pot.
02:22Yeah.
02:23Since it's already cooked.
02:24Oh, I see.
02:25I see.
02:26And what are we doing with this dish?
02:27I know we had the rice, the macaroni balls here.
02:29Yes.
02:30But this particular dish, what are we making here?
02:32So it's a loaded mac and cheese.
02:35So my loaded mac and cheese has andouille sausage in it, spinach, and extra cheese.
02:39Oh.
02:40You need cheese.
02:41You need cheese.
02:42Cheese on top of cheese.
02:43So, you know, again with the smoked gouda, extra sharp cheddar cheese, and any other cheese
02:48that you want to add in there.
02:50I'm just buttering the pan so it's just a little bit easier for me to mix everything
02:54in.
02:55And if you can pass me the macaroni.
02:56Of course.
02:57I would love to.
02:58Oh my gosh, this looks so good.
02:59And then let's scoop it out here, right?
03:00How big a scoop are we making here?
03:01Do you want me to hold it up or this is good?
03:03Yeah, let's throw the whole thing in there, right?
03:04The whole thing?
03:05Yeah, okay.
03:06Let's half it first because we don't want to splash.
03:09Let's get it closer.
03:10Closer, okay.
03:11Yeah.
03:12Now, I saw you use butter, but if I wanted to use olive oil or canola oil, that's fine?
03:15Perfectly fine.
03:16Okay.
03:17Whatever you have.
03:19It was easy.
03:20See, it's easier if you just section it out.
03:22Mm-hmm.
03:23And we don't want anything to go to waste because we want to eat all of our leftovers.
03:26Yes.
03:27You might want us to eat the same thing over and over again.
03:29No.
03:30And if you want, you can add the turkey to this.
03:32You can add ham or whatever other meat you might already have instead of making, you
03:36know, sausage.
03:37So we just want to get a little sizzle on it and then we're just going to add as much.
03:41Do you want me to keep mixing as you?
03:43Oh yeah, please do.
03:44All right.
03:45All I did was chop up this fresh spinach.
03:47Okay.
03:48You can add fresh spinach because it has less water in it.
03:49I know a lot of people have frozen spinach laying around, but you just don't want any
03:53added moisture to it.
03:54So the fresh spinach is the easiest way to go.
03:55But the spinach can wilt away sometimes, right?
03:57So you don't want to cook it for too long, right?
03:58Yeah.
03:59Okay.
04:00All right.
04:01So you turn it down.
04:02So we're going to add something else?
04:03No, we're good to go.
04:04We're going to put it in the pan and then we're going to top it with some more cheese.
04:06Now this is the type of pan that you can throw in the oven?
04:09Yes.
04:10You can throw it right in the oven.
04:11Yeah.
04:12So you want to be able to throw it right back in the oven because you want to...
04:14Sorry about that.
04:15You're good.
04:16I'm going to add some extra cheese.
04:17And what kind of cheese is this again?
04:18This is just sharp.
04:19Sharp cheese.
04:20Okay.
04:21Or whatever extra cheese you might have shaved off the day before for your mac and cheese.
04:24You might have some extra already there.
04:26Whatever you have.
04:27Okay.
04:28You just want to make it as easy as possible.
04:29I think my mouth is watering.
04:30Okay.
04:31This looks amazing.
04:32Yes.
04:33It looks so good.
04:34Okay.
04:35So I'm going to dive right in.
04:36And this took a total of what?
04:38From start to finish.
04:39From making it...
04:4020 minutes of that.
04:4120 minutes of that.
04:42Yeah.
04:43Oh, so good.
04:45I'm so good.
04:46Please don't judge me.
04:47I'm about to eat this quietly in the corner.
04:50Chef Lexi, thank you so much.
04:52This was so good.
04:53This was absolutely delicious.
04:55Well, there you have it, Essence Now fam.
04:57Chef Lexis has showed us how to make two super easy and super tasty ways to remix your
05:02Thanksgiving leftovers by turning mac and cheese into fried mac and cheese balls and mac and
05:08cheese turned up a notch with spinach and andouille sausage.
05:11Now hit us up on Facebook and let us know how you plan on remixing some of your favorite
05:15Thanksgiving leftovers.
05:16Bye.
05:17All right.
05:18We'll do binge.
05:19Take care.
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