Parmesan Crusted Chicken and Stouffers Mac and Cheese

Inspired by the Parmesan Crusted Chicken at TGI Friday's, last night's was a wonderful combination of flavors.  Unfortunately, since I didn't have an exact recipe for this dish, I had to attempt to create one.  It was delicious and juicy, but not exactly the tasty dish that Friday's offers.  In addition to the chicken dish, I made homemade macaroni and cheese.  The recipe for this dish was developed by Todd Wilbur.  He has lots of books that offer copy cat recipes of our favorite restaurant dishes.  This dish was (so I'm told) a very close copy of Stouffers Macaroni and Cheese.  I have never actually had the Stouffers version, but it was fairly tasty. 

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Caesar salad dressing.

2 Cups freshly shredded Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brush chicken breasts with salad dressing then coat them in Parmesan cheese.  Place the coated chicken breasts in a oven safe casserole dish and cover with any extra Parmesan.  Bake for 40 minutes or until done.

Todd Wilbur's Mac and Cheese

1 cup skim milk

5 tsp. flour

2 cups freshly shredded med. cheddar cheese

2 tsp. margarine

1/4 tsp. plus 1/8 salt

3/4 cup uncooked macaroni

Whisk the flour into the skim milk in a small saucepan then place it over medium low heat. Add the shredded cheddar cheese, margarine and salt.  Stir often with a spoon until the cheese begins to melt.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Use a whisk to stir the sauce every couple of minutes so that it becomes smooth and thick.

While the sauce thickens, pour the macaroni into rapidly boiling water.  Boil for 8 minutes or until tender, then strain. You should have about 1 3/4 cups of cooked macaroni.

When the cheese sauce has simmered for 30 minutes, pour the pasta into a medium bowl. Gently stir in the cheese sauce and then pour mixture into a loaf pan or casserole dish.  Cover and freeze.

When you are ready to dive into your macaroni and cheese, preheat the oven to 350.  Bake the frozen macaroni for 50-53 minutes or until the cheese begins to brown slightly.

I felt the chicken was very good.  I might try different ways to match the TGI Friday's chicken. Also, the Stouffers Mac and Cheese was very delicious.  I chose not to freeze mine.  I only baked it for approx. 30 minutes until the top began to brown.  Enjoy!!