Homemade Mac & Cheese AND Chicken Nuggets
Homemade Mac & Cheese INGREDIENTS:
- Noodles - 1 Big Package of whatever noodles you like
- Co-Jack Shredded Cheese - 2 bags
- Parmesan Cheese - 1 bag
- 4 tbsp. Butter
- 2 1/4 cup Milk
- 4 tbsp. Flour
Homemade Mac & Cheese DIRECTIONS:
- Cook noodles per package direction.
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Make white sauce: melt butter - whisk together flour & milk - add flour & milk mixture to melted butter - cook and stir over medium heat until thick and bubbly.
- Grease pan with olive oil.
- Add 1/2 of noodles to the pan, cover with cheese, spoon 1/2 of white sauce over cheese - add remainder of noodles, cover with cheese, cover with white sauce, sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
- Cook for 30 minutes at 350°.
I received this original Homemade Mac & Cheese recipe over 20 years ago from my former mother-in-law. One of the wedding gifts from that union was this recipe book which I've enjoyed for years - it has recorded the origin of recipes, my annotations and a constant rotation of recipes my boys will remember always.
We make Homemade Mac & Cheese for every holiday meal - even Valentine's Day - or on those cold winter nights when we need the comfort of a holiday meal. This particular night we wanted chicken nuggets to pair with the Mac & cheese so we chopped up some chicken parts and fried it up in the cast iron skillet using the same method that we used for Bang Bang Shrimp - see below.
Homemade Chicken Nugget INGREDIENTS:
- Package of boneless raw chicken chopped into one inch pieces
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup cornstarch
- ¼ cup flour
- ½ tbsp garlic
- 1 tbsp paprika
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Canola oil for frying
Homemade Chicken Nugget DIRECTIONS:
- Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Heat oil in cast iron skillet {or any skillet}
- Whisk eggs & dip chicken piece in egg mixture, then dry ingredient mixture.
- Fry in oil for 3 minutes on each side.
- NOTE: check that the chicken is not pink in the middle after first couple of pieces - if it is then increase cook time.
- Let chicken rest on a plate of paper towels.
I was serving a pile of teenagers on this particular night so I used 4 pounds of chicken and quadrupled the dry ingredients and eggs. We served it with ketchup, ranch dressing and buffalo hot sauce - so everyone had the flavor they preferred.
Then I ate my weight in Mac & Cheese and chicken nuggets. Ha! It was a fun night of cooking with the kids and enjoying the fruits of our labor. There was actually plenty left for a couple of days of leftovers. I just made sure to bake the left over chicken versus microwaving it. Whenever I microwave baked or breaded items they come out soggy and gross.
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