Cooking: Buffalo Chicken Mac N Cheese

There are very few times that I come up with a recipe that is truly my own. But when it does happen and it's delicious, I'm so very proud of it. This is such the case for Buffalo Chicken Mac n Cheese. I was intrigued one day with my friend's Buffalo Chicken salad. I thought that strong flavor and smell would go really well with mac n cheese. And so my brain starting churning. I scoured the internet for recipes but did not like any one of them. They all mostly resembled buffalo chicken dip using the white meat of the chicken and shredded. Nope, not good enough for me. So, I brainstormed and came up with my own rendition and it's so much better.

You start off with the chicken. I use dark meat only. Why? Because it tastes better and it's juicier. Duh! Pat the chicken thighs dry and trim off excess fat. Then dice into small bite sized pieces. Season with salt, pepper, and chili powder/cayenne (or both). The more spice you add, obviously the spicier it will be.

And now the dredging. This part is important. Don't go and buy pre-breaded chicken. It won't taste the same. There will be no layering of spices and heat. If you don't care about any of these, then go ahead and do the shortcut which, again, I do NOT recommend. Anyway, prep your all purpose flour with salt, pepper, and chili/cayenne powder.

To your eggs, add a generous splash of Tabasco sauce.

And to your seasoned bread crumbs, add the chili/cayenne powder. Again, the more you add, the spicier it will be. Keep in mind that the cheese will mellow out the spice level so it's better to go heavier than lighter.

Toss the chicken into the flour to coat evenly. Then shake off the excess. Then into the egg, then the breadcrumbs. Place on sheetpan in one even layer. Bake in the oven at 375oF for about 30-45 minutes until cooked through. In the meantime, shred your cheese. Shredding it allows it to melt easily and evenly. Also, this is a good time to cook your pasta. Keep in mind to cook it under al dente. It'll continue to cook in the oven when you bake the whole thing together.

And prep your buffalo wing sauce. Here I melted some butter and added the Frank's Buffalo Wing sauce to it.

When the chicken is cooked, place in bowl and toss with hot buffalo wing sauce. Coat evenly.

Place in pan with pasta. Toss to combine.

And now the cheese sauce. Melt some butter in a pot.

Then add flour to create a thickening agent, the roux. Cook for a few minutes until the raw flour taste is gone. Do NOT actually taste it. It will burn your tongue. Then add milk in a slow stream and whisk to combine. This helps prevent lumps. Then add cheese and stir until melted. Lastly, add another bottle of Frank's Buffalo Wing sauce.

Add the entire thing to the pasta and chicken. Stir gently to incorporate all  the cheese sauce in every nook and cranny.

And here is where things have changed. I used to top it with blue cheese dressing then the breadcrumb topping. But I find that it better to do it the other way around now.

So toasted bread crumb topping first. I like to toast it in butter and then mix with parmesiano cheese. Cover with foil. Bake in the oven at 375oF for about 30-45 minutes until bubbling. Then remove foil and continue baking for 10 minutes to brown the top. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.

Last step is to serve with blue cheese dressing on top. Of course, you can skip this step if you don't like blue cheese.

Not to toot my own horn but this is a really good dish. It also works as a great party dish because you can easily make it ahead of time and refrigerate it until ready. You can even freeze it though the texture may be a bit off. Anyway, I love the tang of the buffalo sauce with the meatiness of the chicken and the chewiness of the pasta. Oh, the pasta, I like to use the spirals instead of elbows. I think it holds up better to the large pieces of chicken. But use whatever you please.

Buffalo Chicken Mac and cheese

This recipe is for 1 party tray size.

2-2.5 lbs of skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Tabasco
Cayenne pepper
Salt
Ground black pepper
Plain bread crumbs
Flour
3-4 Eggs
1 lb of american cheese (cut up into pieces)
1 lb of cheddar cheese (cut up into pieces)
1 stick Butter
1 qrt Milk
2 bottles of Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce
1 lb pasta
1 jar of Marie's Super Blue Cheese Dressing (found in the produce section)*
Oil
Non-stick spray (ex. Pam)
Large baking sheet
Large foil tray (lasagna or roaster size)
Large pot
Whisk

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray a large baking sheet with non-stick spray.

1. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Keep in mind that they tend to shrink when cooked.
2. Marinate chicken with salt, pepper, and cayenne.
3. Prepare three bowls for breading station: flour, eggs (beaten), bread crumbs.
4. Add cayenne to flour. Add tabasco into eggs. Add cayenne to break crumbs. This is where you can control the heat of the dish. The more you add, the hotter it is. I tend to add cayenne and tabasco until each bowl turns a light-medium orange color. Remember, the cheese mellows the taste out later.
5. In steps, flour chicken, then dip in egg mixture, and the bread crumbs. Make sure to shake any excess off in each step and afterwards. Place chicken onto sprayed baking sheet in one even layer. It's okay if they touch.
6. Bake chicken until cooked. About 30 min.
7. In the meantime, boil large pot of water for pasta. When boiling, add salt and oil before pasta. Cook pasta according to box.
8. Drain pasta, and place in large foil pan. Add more oil if needed to prevent sticking.
9. In the meantime, melt a half stick of butter on low heat. Add one bottle of Frank's Buffalo Wing sauce. Stir to combine.
10. When chicken is cooked, quickly remove from oven and right into the butter and wing sauce. Coat evenly. Remove from heat. Add to large foil pan with pasta. Mix together gently.
11. Melt half a stick of butter on medium heat. Add 4 tablespoons of flour to create a roux (thickening agent). Cook for 5 minutes while stirring.
12. Add milk slowly in a stream while whisking. This helps prevent lumps.
13. When milk comes to a simmer, add cheese and mix.
14. When combined, add last bottle of Frank's buffalo wing sauce. Mix well.
15. Remove from heat and add to pan with pasta and chicken.
16. Top with more breadcrumbs, toasted with butter. Also use parmesiano cheese too, if desired.
17. Bake in oven until bubbling (30-45 min).
18. Remove, let cool.
*19. Drizzle Marie's Super Blue cheese dressing on top. (Omit this step if you do not like blue cheese)