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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Jalapeno Popper Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

I have a confession.

I may have gone insane.

And by insane, I mean overboard.

This recipe is bananas.
If Jalapeno Poppers got together with Buffalo Chicken, this would be their love child. Their amazingly delicious love child.

I’m not gonna lie to your guys. This recipe rocks. It’s some of my favorite flavors all wrapped up into one awesome pan of macaroni heaven.

Macaroni and cheese on steroids, if you will.

It’s totally rufus. {Anyone else having Never Been Kissed flashbacks? “It’s totally rufus!!” Am I the only one who saw this movie like 14 times in the theater? C’mon people!}

This recipe calls for a lot of ingredients, but I had them ALL on hand, so odds are you will have the majority of these. Believe it or not, I had all five of these cheeses on hand in my fridge to make this yesterday. I don’t know if I should be embarrassed by that or not.

I’m a girl who like cheese, what can I say.

Besides this meal taking a little more time to prepare than usual, it’s really straightforward. Saute some veggies, cook pasta, make sauce, mix it all together and bake. Really not intimidating in the least, but super cheesy and divine in every sense of the word.

Ladies: make this for that special someone in your lives! They will want to marry you.

Or marry you again.

You’re welcome in advance.

Jalapeno Popper Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese
yield: 6-8 servings
Print This Recipe

Ingredients:
4 slices of bacon
2 tablespoons bacon grease {reserved from said bacon}
1/2 large onion, diced {about 1 1/4 cups}
2 jalapenos, sliced {ribs and seeds removed}
1 pound elbow macaroni

for the sauce-
4 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups milk {whole or 2% please}
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt & pepper, to taste
1 pinch nutmeg
2 ounces cream cheese
1 tablespoon hot sauce {such as Frank’s Red Hot}

2 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated provolone
1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
1 cup precooked and shredded chicken {optional}

for the topping-
1 cup corn flakes, crushed
1/3 cup blue cheese crumbles
{cooked bacon, as listed above}

parsley, for garnish

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook bacon until crispy. Remove from pan, drain on paper towels and crumble. Pour off excess bacon drippings, keeping 2 tablespoons in the pan. Place skillet back on heat and saute onion and jalapenos until soft, about 6 minutes over medium heat. Set aside.

Bring large pot of water to boil. Salt water generously and cook pasta 2 minutes short of package directions. You want the macaroni to be very al dente, but not still crunchy. Drain and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the same pot, melt butter over medium heat. whisk in flour and cook 1-2 minutes. Whisk in milk, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Increase heat to medium high and continue mixing until sauce thickens. Remove from heat. Stir in cream cheese and hot sauce until melted smoothly into the sauce. Pour cooked pasta and sauteed onions and jalapenos into the sauce. Stir to coat. Stir in cheeses and chicken. Pour into a buttered baking dish {9×9, 9×13, or somewhere in between should be good} and spread out evenly. Top with blue cheese, corn flakes and crumbled bacon. Bake 20-30 minutes until top of macaroni has browned. Remove from oven, top with parsley and serve hot.