Chicken Cordon Bleu Mac and Cheese

A while back, the wife had a big get together with some of the people that she grew up with, and as usual, I got rooked into cooking for the shindig. I decided to make goulash because its cheap and easy. She was in Terre Haute one day and I suggested that she go to Sams club to get the stuff for it. She came home with 12 pounds of elbow noodles, because they were cheap . That's way more than what we needed. I thought "What the hell are we going to do with all of these freakin noodles?" Well, being the creative person that I am, I knew that it wouldn't take too long to figure out something to make with them. We had home made mac and cheese til it came out of our ears and so much goulash that I don't care if I ever see it again. We had chili mac and tuna noodle casserole and I even thought about making something with chocolate and noodles... I was sitting at the computer looking for a different idea for supper one night and I saw a chicken cordon bleu recipe, one of my favorite ways to have chicken. Then it hit me, chicken cordon bleu mac and cheese. It took a few times for me to get it how I want it and I enjoyed all of the R and D that I did. It is a winner with everyone in the house and a few of the guys I work with.

You'll need
2.5-3 cups elbow macaroni 3 large chicken breasts, cubed
12 ounces diced ham
16 ounces grated swiss cheese
10 ounces grated muenster cheese
2 cups heavy cream
2 egg yolks (save the whites to fry for a breakfast sandwich or a meringue pie)
1 tsp minced garlic
Panko bread crumbs
enough black pepper to suit your taste buds

Boil the macaroni noodles to al dente, strain and set aside.
In a large nonstick pot, saute chicken breast cubes in butter and set aside. Then saute diced ham til starting to brown, 3-5 minutes. Add cream and bring to a boil. As soon as the cream begins to boil, turn heat to medium and add 3/4 of the cheeses, minced garlic and beaten egg yolks and stir vigorously til the cheese is melted. Add the boiled macaroni noodles to the cheese sauce and stir well. Put in a large casserole dish. Cover with remaining grated cheeses. Put chicken cubes on top and cover with panko bread crumbs.





Bake at 375 til bread crumbs are golden brown, about 45 minutes




As tempting as it is to dig right in as soon as it's out of the oven.... DON'T! It will have the same effect as napalm on your face. ENJOY