Hot Chicken Mac and Cheese

Everyone knows I love chicken of the fried variety, and Revival in Minneapolis is one of my favorite places to get fried chicken. (Read about my first experience there here.) Not only is their chicken utterly delicious, it also retains its fried chicken integrity quite well which makes for fabulous leftovers. While you can just eat it as-is, might I suggest instead making this hot chicken mac and cheese?

Here's how to make hot chicken mac and cheese:

1) Make a box of mac and cheese according to the package directions. I'm partial to Annie's white cheddar and shells, but you do you. Use an oven-safe pan, such as a small dutch oven.

2) While the pasta is boiling, cut or tear up your leftover fried chicken, making sure to remove any small bones. Some of the crispy skin bits will fall off while you cut it up - keep them and set them aside to use as a topping at the end.

3) While mixing the mac and cheese sauce, add a few key extra ingredients: a pinch of nutmeg, 1-2 tablespoons butter, hot sauce, and a generous handful of extra cheese. I use habanero cheddar and the sweet potato hot sauce from Revival. DO NOT SKIP THE NUTMEG. It sounds weird, but any good mac and cheese has nutmeg in it.

4) Mix up the embellished cheese sauce and then fold in the chicken. (David, I cannot show you everything!) If your pan is not oven-safe, transfer the mixture to a small baking dish.

5) Sprinkle the extra crispy bits of chicken skin and more shredded cheese on the top. Broil until the cheese is melty and sizzling. Garnish with pickles and scallions.

After eating this, my husband remarked, "There should be a special section on the food pyramid that's just mac and cheese with hot chicken in it."