Barbeque Chicken Mac and Cheese

Erin Martin. This post is for you. I haven't cooked in a long time, so, I am putting a few of my favorites up :)

If you have ever heard of Picky-palate, that is where I got this idea. I have adjusted the recipe a bit to my liking (and I think it's perfect!) It makes a lot of food so bring it to a pot luck or barbeque! YUM!

Barbeque Chicken Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

1 lb of elbow macaroni noodles (you can use any noodles actually)

4 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup flour

1 whole egg beaten

2 Tbsp (heaping!) dry mustard (you can add up to 3 Tbsp and it will still be delish!)

4 cups of milk (I usually use 1 % or 2 %)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

6 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2-3 cups precooked chicken (I usually just boil mine in some water and a couple bouillon cubes)

1 bottle of your favorite barbeque sauce!

what-to-do:

1. Take boiled chicken and shred it with two forks until you have 2-3 cups of it. Pour your favorite bbq sauce over it until moist and as much sauce as you want. Set aside.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, cook pasta according to directions (al dente). I usually take mine out about 2-3 minutes before the full time. You still want your pasta to be tough because we will be cooking it more in the oven! Drain, set aside.

2. Whisk egg in a bowl and set aside.

3. Melt butter in a dutch oven or pan over medium heat on stove. Whisk in flour and cook for 3 minute stirring constantly. Pour in milk and mustard and whisk until very thick and smooth (about 5 minutes). Reduce heat to low

4. Now take about 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly whisk it into the beaten egg. Whisk constantly so that the egg will not cook. Stir until it's smooth. Pour and stir this egg mixture into sauce until it's smooth.

5. Slowly add 5 cups of cheese stirring constantly. Then add salts and pepper. Taste sauce to make sure it is salty enough :) You can always add more salt!

6. Pour cooked, drained macaroni into the pot and stir. Make sure to cover all of the noodles. Now pour into a pyrex pan (or you can use the same dutch oven if you used that) and top with bbq chicken and the other cup of cheese.

7. Bake for 25 minutes until bubbly and delicious.

tips to wanna-be-chefs: How to boil chicken? Put about 4 or 5 chicken breasts into a pot. Add water until all breasts are covered, add 2 or 3 bouillon cubes and boil for 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. If you don't have time for this step, just get a precooked chicken from the store and shred that (I just don't have that kind of money!) Also, if you want to add a half teaspoon of paprika to the cheese sauce it's delish too! Have fun! You'll never make kraft mac and cheese again!