Cheesy Chili Mac

Here's a really important question: why doesn't chili-mac always come with extra cheesy-goo?
It's easy to do. Just make a simple ground beef chili (you can take or leave the canned beans as you see fit), add it to a simple stovetop mac and cheese (evaporated milk makes that really easy), then bake the whole thing off with extra cheese.
Also, my doctor says I need to start watching my cholesterol, by which I assume he means that I need to start watching to make sure it doesn't rise too much. I've just realized that this week, I'm working on three different recipes where the main ingredients are beef and cheese (the other two are coming up later!). So Doc, I'll get right on that watching thing next week.

Dinner Tonight: Parisian Chicken

I've never been all that good at cooking boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Afraid to leave them too pink, I often find myself overshooting the cooking and turning out something dry and stringy (or the center is just right, but the edges are tough). Usually I just steer clear of the ubiquitous chicken breast, opting for thighs or just roasting the whole bird. But the technique used in this recipe caught my eye. The breast is butterflied and pounded with a mallet until thin and uniform in thickness, known as paillard, and the result cooks quickly and evenly without guesswork.
I pulled this recipe for Parisian Chicken from Mother's Best, a collection of comfort food dishes from Mother's Bistro and Bar in Portland, Oregon. It's a classic preparation, coating the chicken with flour and egg to give it a golden crust, then making a quick pan sauce with vermouth, lemon juice, butter, and parsley. This delicious and quick dinner is elegant and not too difficult to make.
About the author: Blake Royer founded The Paupered Chef with Nick Kindelsperger, where he writes about food and occasional travels. After a year in Estonia, he's now living in Chicago.

Homemade Tater Tots

To freeze the Tots, follow the recipe through step 3. In step 4, remove them from the fryer after 1 1/2 minutes and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Transfer to a sheet tray or large plate in a single layer and place in freezer for at least 1 hour. Transfer the frozen tots to a zipper-lock freezer bag and store for up to 3 months.
Be careful not to overprocess potatoes or they will become sticky and gummy. If a few large chunks of potatoes remain, break them up with your fingers in the bowl.
For variations on the recipe, check out the slideshow in the original article.

Perfect Thin and Crispy French Fries

More than meets the fry: Check out the science here.
About the author: After graduating from MIT, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt spent many years as a chef, recipe developer, writer, and editor in Boston. He now lives in New York with his wife, where he runs a private chef business, KA Cuisine, and co-writes the blog GoodEater.org about sustainable food enjoyment.

McDonald's Big Mac

Big Mac: Make Your Own, Have a Party

"When the stars come out to play, babe. A twinkling show, ooh — dinner! — out of sight. Yeah, the night time is golden light time — big dipper! At McDonald's (showtime), it's Mac Tonight!"

Imagine sitting down at your dining table in front of a Big Mac as giant man with a crescent moon-shaped head serenades you as you take your first bite. If you convince your significant other or very best friend to wear a moon costume, you can use this Big Mac recipe to satisfy the culinary portion of that fantastic evening. That's a tough one to pass up.

(If you don't know what that was all about, you need to read up on Mac Tonight.)

How To Make Stuffed Crust Pizza

Stuffed crust pizza is basically the holy grail of pizza gimmicks. While it's certainly not the best pizza in the world, there's something emotionally satisfying about jamming cheese and/or meat where it doesn't necessarily belong. If you know your way around pizza dough it's surprisingly easy to make, and making it yourself breaks the limits of what you can shove in that crust. You're no longer limited to standard pizzas, but could even make a dessert pizza with, say, chocolate tucked away around the edges. With all the different types of pizzas you can make these days, and all the possible toppings, you can get pretty creative with stuffing material. Dare to dream.

How To Make Stuffed Crust Pizza

Here's how to transform my basic bread dough recipe into a delicious stuffed crust pizza.

You'll find the recipe for the dough here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/You-can-make-bread/

6. Stuffed Crust Pizza

Even if you've never been a huge fan of KFC, it's hard to argue against the fun of eating anything you can just pop in your mouth. In the video above, Betty shows you how to make some easy popcorn chicken in the Kentucky Fried tradition, only with a bit less grease (because that's what her particular tastes dictate). It's all the same fried fun, just with more chicken!