1 lb chicken tenders trimmed of any excess fat
2 cups buttermilk (Or milk + vinegar, or milk + lemon juice)
4 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or less, to taste
Optional red pepper flakes to taste
4 CHEESE SAUCE AND PASTA:
1/2 stick butter (4 Tbsp)
1 Anaheim pepper diced (can substitute with jalapeno or poblano)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Romano cheese
1/2 cup shredded Asiago cheese
Fresh parsley for garnish
1 box dried cavatappi pasta (or other short cut pasta) (1 lb)
Cook bacon in your preferred method, and set aside to cool.
Combine in a big bowl for breading later.
Add all ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to LOW and simmer for 20 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Set aside to cool a bit.
Place chicken tenders in a large bowl and pour buttermilk into bowl. Turn chicken to coat each piece in buttermilk.
Let marinate while you prepare other things.
Add oil to large heavy bottomed pot and heat to 350 degrees F.
Shake excess buttermilk from chicken tender, then drop into seasoned flour.
Shake gently to coat in flour. Repeat with remaining chicken tenders.
Add tenders, 2-3 at a time, to the hot oil and fry for several minutes per side, until dark golden brown and cooked through.
Remove from the oil and place on a wire cooling rack (with paper towels laying underneath to catch the excess grease). Repeat with remaining chicken.
4 CHEESE SAUCE AND PASTA:
While chicken is frying, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Add pasta and cook until al dente (according to package directions).
Drain pasta and drizzle with a bit of olive oil.
While pasta water is coming up to a boil, add butter to a saucepan and melt over MED-LOW heat.
Add garlic and diced pepper to the saucepan and saute for 2 minutes, until softened.
Add in flour and whisk to combine. Mixture will resemble very wet sand.
Pour in heavy cream while whisking, and whisk often for 5 minutes, or until thickened.
Sauce should coat the back of a spoon.
Add in cheeses, one at a time, and stir to melt.
Season with pepper and basil and stir to combine.
Toss cooked pasta with cheese sauce and add to serving bowl.
Toss fried chicken tenders with some of the honey pepper sauce, and place several chicken tenders on top of the mac and cheese.
Sprinkle with crumbled bacon, minced fresh parsley, and an optional drizzle of the honey pepper sauce.
If you want to minimize dishes and multitasking....
Do chicken first. Bread and bake for ~40mins at 425 degrees.
Make pasta in large pot. Set aside
In same pot still, make cheese sauce. Add pasta. Set aside.
In same pot, make honey pepper sauce. Set aside.
Toss desired amount of chicken in honey pepper sauce. (If you plan to have leftovers, leave the chicken and sauce separate)
Plate up! Reheat covered in oven if needed.
Planning to omit chicken and use breaded broccoli and cauliflower instead. Maybe combine seasoned flour and buttermilk into a batter or modify this batter and then bread with conventional bread crumbs if this doesn’t work initially.
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