Update: Chicken Tetrazzini

So I made this chicken tetrazzini again(the first go-round is here), and I changed it a bit. Not a whole lot. Same general concept. Just slightly different. I really like how it turned out, so I'm posting the updated version. Hooray. Haha.

The first time I made this, I had no clue what I was doing. I just threw some stuff together and hoped for the best. It turned out to be yummy, so no worries there. When I went to make it this time...I didn't even look at the recipe, really. I just decided to kinda re-make it up as I went. That's pretty much how I roll. I'm not sure I ever really make anything exactly the same way twice, partially cause I don't really measure things out much. I give you my estimated amounts, so...sorry. haha. But I think what I post is pretty accurate. I've gotten better about writing it down as I'm cooking so I'm closer to the actual amounts. ;) Haha. I also made a small-ish pan of this, since it's just the two of us, so I'm sharing my smaller recipe. Double it for family meals. :) So anyway...enough of my blabbing. Here we go.

Ingredients:
-2 chicken breasts, cubed and cooked
-2 tablespoons butter
-1.5 tablespoons flour
-3/4 cup heavy cream
-1/3 cup milk (I used 2%)
-2/3 cup chicken broth
-1 teaspoon onion powder
-2 teaspoons garlic powder
-1/2 lb pasta (I used spaghetti)
-1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used colby jack)
-1/4 cup bread crumbs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium sauce pan or skillet, melt the butter over medium/high heat. Add the chicken and cook until just under done. Remove the chicken from the pan/pot, but LEAVE THE BUTTER. It's ok if there's some chicken-y stuff in there too, just take the big chunks out.

Whisk the flour into the remaining butter and reduce heat to medium. When the roux is well incorporated, let it cook just another couple minutes, stirring frequently. Add the cream and whisk to combine. Keep stirring relatively frequently. You don't want lumpy bumpies, but you do want the sauce to thicken. When the mixture gets pretty thick, add the milk and do the same thing-stir it to incorporate, and let it thicken a bit, stirring frequently.

When that mixture gets pretty thick, add the broth and stir to combine. Let that sit just a minute, and then stir occasionally so it can thicken. You don't really want it to boil, so if you see bubbles, stir! Then reduce the heat slightly. You want it to thicken a bit, but it won't be THICK. Add the onion and garlic powder and mix it in well. Reduce the heat to low and keep stirring it every once in a while.

While all that's going on, boil a pot of water and cook your pasta until just under done. Drain and set aside.

When everything is done, return the pasta to it's pot (minus the water),

dump in the chicken and sauce,

and stir to coat everything well. Dump it a baking dish (the one I used was 9 x 9), and make sure it's evenly distributed in the dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top of the whole thing. Then sprinkle the cheese over that.

Bake for about 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and everything is hot and bubbly and delicious.

Yum. :)