Bleu Cheese Mac ‘n’ Cheese with Buffalo Chicken

Serves 4-6 as an entrée, maybe with leftovers.

• 3 chicken breasts, boneless, or one small chicken, quartered, and deboned
• vegetable oil for pan fry
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to season
• 1 cup buffalo sauce
• 1 lb package macaroni
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 50 g (4TBSP) butter
• 50 g (about 4TBSP) flour
• 1 qt + 1 c milk
• nutmeg and cayenne pepper to season
• 2 cups crumbled bleu cheese (or, 1-2 of the small containers of crumbled bleu cheese from your grocer)

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions. When finished, strain and toss with some olive oil to coat, using no more than 1/2 cup of oil. Reserve.
3. Let’s make béchamel! In a sauce pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat, then add flour. Use a whisk to ensure mixture comes together. When mixture begins to foam, add milk in about 1 cup increments, ensuring the milk was incorporated before adding the next batch. Bring mixture to boil and immediately lower to simmer. Let simmer 10 minutes. Stir often to ensure the bottom doesn’t burn. Season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne to taste. Keep warm.
4. While the béchamel is simmering, place an oven oven-proof skillet on the stove over high heat. Season chicken breasts/meat on all sides. When hot, add oil to pan and place chicken into pan (skin side down first if applicable). When browned, turn chicken over. When golden brown on all sides, turn off heat, and coat chicken with buffalo sauce. (This may get a little smokey, so don’t stand over the pan!) Immediately place in oven until chicken reaches 165˚F. Occasionally turn the chicken in the pan to ensure sauce coats.
5. Assembly. When the chicken is done, remove from oven and cut into bite-size pieces. Return to pan to coat with any remaining sauce. Meanwhile, melt cheese in béchamel, stirring until incorporated. Combine chicken, pasta, and cheesy béchamel into a casserole and return to oven to reheat if necessary.

For a variation, try replacing the bleu cheese with cheddar or some smoked cheese, replace the buffalo sauce with barbeque sauce, or stir in some of your favourite vegetables instead of meat!