Fried Chicken and Cheesesteaks

A loose recipe I make every so often when I have some good cheese on hand .... 1st. Boil and drain one pound of pasta to al dente, drain and set aside. (I tend to use penne or ziti, but if you have elbows on hand, that is fine too) 2nd. Make a roux - melt half a stick of butter in a large pot. Whisk in about a quarter cup flour. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it's a light brown with a light scent of toast. 3rd. Mix in about a pint of milk, stirring constantly as it comes up to temperature (the flour will thicken the liquid as it comes to a boil). Season with mustard (dry powder or a prepared dijon or brown would be best), a few tablespoons of sherry or white wine, paprika, garlic powder or finely minced garlic, onion powder, pepper (preferably white pepper), nutmeg. 4th. Mix in about a pound of cheese, shredded. In my last batch I think I used fontina, cheddar, parmesan and a little bit each of Parrano and swiss. Any "real" ...

I served this casserole, which I made-up from leftover chili, at the first dinner party we ever hosted, a few weeks after we were married. That was a few weeks shy of six years ago now! It's always a hit. If you make the chili a bit on the mild side, but serve hotter salsas on the side, everyone can have the spice level they prefer. At that dinner party I also served a homemade tomatilla salsa verde. It turned out very well, but took hours. So now I buy salsa verde in jars at Trader Joes :) Ingredients: 1 batch chili 2 boxes cornbread mix (Jiffy, or the store brand equivilant) 3 eggs 1 cup milk 1/2 pound shredded cheddar cheese Heat oven to 375. Scoop chili (preferably from the day before - it actually tastes better the next day) into 13 x 9 pan. Heat in oven for about 30 minutes. . . Remove from oven: . . . . . . .. . . Top w/ shredded cheddar: . . . . . . .. . . Combine cornbread mix, eggs and milk and pour over cheese. . . . . .. .. ... ...