FoodieCuisine.com

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Food Network Magazine - April 2010

I subscribe to the Food Network Magazine and in the April 2010 issue they have an article written by Con Poulos that is devoted to different kinds of Macaroni and Cheese dishes.  They have recipes for Spring Shells and Cheese, Triple-Cheese Spirals, Noodle Kugel, Mini Mac and Shrooms, and Buffalo-Chicken Macaroni and Cheese.  

This past Easter Holiday I decided to make the Buffalo-Chicken Macaroni and Cheese for my family.  I didn’t think too far ahead about doing this and forgot to pick up the rotisserie chicken at the store.  Thankfully, my step-father picked one up for me on his way over.  The only choices they had were a BBQ Sauced one and a Lemon-Pepper one, so I went with the BBQ Sauce chicken. 

The recipe is somewhat simple but takes longer than the advertised 35 minutes to make.  On your first go I’d recommend setting aside an hour to prep it and another 50 minutes to cook and cool it.  I expect that you will get much faster at making it the second time around. 

The ingredients:

• 7 Tbsp butter
• 1 pound macaroni
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (1 whole chicken)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup hot sauce
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 2 tsp dry mustard
• 2 1/2 cups half-and-half
• 1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 8 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• 1 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

If you read the magazine article you will notice that I modified the recipe a little.  I prefer more garlic and also like more blue cheese than was originally called for.  I preheated my oven to 400 degrees and sprayed a 9″ x 13″ baking dish with butter spray.  I also brought a large pot of water to a boil to cook the pasta.  The recipe calls for the oven to be set at 350 degrees but I have found that most professional kitchen based recipes expect the oven to operate at a higher temperature than you typically realize at home.  Due to this I usually increase the temperature on recipes I know are from non-home kitchens. 

While the water was coming up to a boil I sauteed my onions and celery in a skillet on high with 3 tablespoons of butter.  When the onions were soft, I added the shredded chicken and garlic and stirred it all together to cook for 2 minutes.  After the 2 minute mark I added the hot sauce and simmered the entire mixture for a few minutes.  Once it was cooked I turned off the heat and set the mixture aside. 

The Result - Mmmmm Gooood

By this time the water was boiling so I put the pasta in and set the timer for 8 minutes.  I was using spiral macaroni but it doesn’t really matter what shape you choose. 

With the pasta in the water I heated a large metal sauce pan on high and melted 2 tablespoons of butter in it.  I stirred in the flour and mustard and mixed until it was smooth.  I then whisked in the half-and-half and added the remaining 1/2 cup of hot sauce.  I let it cook until thickened, about 2 minutes and then turned the heat down to medium.  I slowly added the cubed cheddar cheese, a few cubes at a time, while stirring to prevent scorching.  Finally I added in the pepper jack cheese and the sour cream and stirred until the mixture was smooth, about 5 minutes.

When the time was up on the pasta, I poured the pasta into a strainer and strained the liquid away.  I then reserved the pasta in the strainer and set it aside for assembly.  To assemble the dish I put half of the macaroni in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.  I then topped the macaroni with the chicken mixture and another layer of macaroni.  I then poured the cheese sauce over the top layer of macaroni.  I was careful to do this as the dish was very full by the time everything was added and I still needed some room for the crumb topping. 

While the cheese mixture settled on the top, I melted 2 tablespoons of butter.  I mixed the melted butter in a bowl with the panko bread crumbs, blue cheese, and parsley.  Finally I sprinkled the mixture over the macaroni and baked the entire thing for 40 minutes.  Once it was done I removed it from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes to cool. 

Final Thoughts

I really liked the recipe and enjoyed the changes I made to it as well.  The next time around I will add more hot sauce as it lacked the kick I like.  I’d probably add a tsp of salt too.  You could lighten it up by using 2% cheese, low-fat sour cream, and maybe even buttermilk instead of half-and-half.  I’d have to try the buttermilk idea though to see what it does to the flavor profile.  It may turn out okay given the tartness of the blue cheese.  Let me know if you try it!