We both enjoyed this dish but I feel like it needs a lot of tweaking before I'll make it again. My biggest complaint was the Ritz crackers. Two tubes is way too much. I should have gone with my gut and stuck with one tube. I also cut the amount of butter way down. I don't usually balk at butter but almost 2 sticks in one recipe (and a savory recipe at that) is overkill. To cut down on the butter I made a roux with butter and flour instead of the cornstarch/butter/water mixture.
SP said the addition of some noodles would have gone a long way to making this great and I have to agree, especially because my casserole was a little light on the meat. I had some bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs in the freezer so I decided to poach those, but I got barely a cup and a half of meat from the 4 thighs. I'm happy to report that SP got a different brand of cheddar cheese for me this time and it's amazing what a difference it made. I could actually taste the cheddar!
I've made a bunch of changes in the recipe below and will report back when I make this again.
Chicken Broccoli Supreme
Modified From Get Off Your Butt and Bake!
3 cups cooked chicken breasts, cubed
2 cups egg noodles
1–lb. broccoli crowns, cut into florets
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
SAUCE:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese
TOPPING:
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tube Ritz crackers
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and egg noodles. Cook for 4 minutes, then add the broccoli florets and cook another 2 minutes. Drain and return to the pot. Add the cooked chicken and toss together.
Grease a 13×9 pan. Add pasta mixture and set aside.
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook one minute, then whisk in the chicken broth, salt and pepper and milk. Whisk until the sauce starts to thicken. Turn heat down to low, and add 1- 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese. Stir until melted.
Pour the sauce over the pasta, chicken and broccoli. Top with 1- 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese.
Melt the butter, and add the poppy seeds; stir well. Crush Ritz crackers in large zip-lock bag with a rolling pin. Add crumbs to the melted butter. Sprinkle crumbs over the top of the grated cheese.
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
Your changes sound like good ones to me! I used the roux method too, and I don't know how many crackers I used, but I'm pretty sure it was less than 2 sleeves.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I also did that made this seem more hearty was keep the chicken breasts whole and raw, pour the cheese sauce over them, and bake them in the oven until they were cooked through.
Cassie - So you baked the chicken and broccoli together with the cream sauce or you baked the chicken and sauce together and then added the broccoli?
ReplyDeleteI made this last week as well. I was thinking about changing the cheese sauce as I was making it. I have a good recipe for cheese sauce I use for Mac and cheese and au gratin. I will do that next time to save on butter. Also, I used Italian bread crumbs (did not measure) instead of Ritz. I think it came out great with that. For the chicken I used 3 chicken breasts (skinless, boneless). I cut them into 1 inch pieces, sautéed with olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder and some Italian seasoning. Then combined with broccoli, cheese sauce, crumbs on top, bake. I made rice to go with it, not noodles. It was great.
ReplyDeleteI baked the chicken and broccoli together -- basically just like the recipe said to, only I left the chicken whole and raw. I still topped it with the broccoli, then the cheese sauce, and baked it.
ReplyDelete