Because there seems to be some interest in comfort food today

Here's what I did last night.



I guess you'd call it a Chicken-Chipotle Mac and Cheese, although I am so sick of hearing the word "chipotle" that I want to start randomly stabbing people in the neck. However that doesn't change the fact that I like to cook with dried jalapenos.

This was successful but very very rich. But if you can handle that, here's what you do.

A) Chipotle butter

1) Place five or six large dried jalapenos (chipotle peppers.. although I am sick of that word) into boiling water for a few minutes to rehydrate.

2) Along with the peppers, chop one whole garlic clove and one bunch of green onions. Shove all that stuff into the blender with about a 1/4 stick of softened butter. Process until you're satisfied with the consistency of your goo. Set aside.

B) Chicken: I used a package of boneless thighs from Rouses.

1) Cut chicken into 1 1/2 by 1 inch pieces coat in black pepper, cumin, salt, paprika, and garlic powder.

2) Saute chicken pieces in butter in a large skillet. Remove and set aside.

C) Bechemel sauce

1) In the large pan, add about 1/8 to 1/4 cup of flour to a stick of butter. Stir until you have a nice white roux.

2) Add whatever combination of heavy cream and/or evaporated milk you have laying around until you build a thick heavy sauce. (Probably 2-3 cups of cream/milk in all. I'm never very exact with my measurements)

3) Add salt and pepper.

4) Add chipotle butter to your bechemel.

5) Add a few tablespoons of grated Parmesan and then maybe a pound of grated cheddar and jack cheese. Stir until incorporated.

D) Assembly

1) Bring together one pound of cooked elbow macaroni with your chicken pieces and your sauce and mix well.

2) Arrange mixture in a large Pyrex baking pan, top with salt, paprika, and double fistfulls of cheese.

3) Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.


Again, it's very rich and very heavy and I found I couldn't eat quite as much as I would have liked in one sitting. (Although that's probably a good thing.) But it's just the perfect sort of thing for the once-in-a-decade sub-freezing weather we're having this week.