Chicken Tetrazinni
4 pounds chicken leg quarters ; cooked and deboned
8 ounces Spaghetti (I like linguini.)
1 cup Parmesan cheese ; grated
1 pound Mushrooms ; sliced
1/2 pound Bacon
1 Onion ; chopped
4 Garlic ; minced
1 cup Chicken broth
3 tablespoon Butter
3 tablespoon Flour
1 cup 2% lowfat milk
1 ounce Pimento ; diced
Salt and pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare to cook spaghetti according to package instructions.
Place bacon in dutch oven and cook until crisp and brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel to drain. Set aside. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings and discard.
In the remaining drippings begin cooking the onion. After it has cooked for a couple of minutes, add the garlic and continue cooking until the onion softens. Do not brown.
Meanwhile prepare spaghetti according to package instructions. Do not overcook. Drain well and do not rinse.
After the onions are cooked, add the butter and stir it into the onion mixture to melt it. Then gradually add in the flour stirring constantly to incorporate the flour into the mixture and cook it. Do not allow it to burn or brown.
After this roux is done, gradually stir in the milk to make a creamy sauce. Adjust the amount of milk if needed to thin the sauce to the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. When all is well incorporated, add the grated cheese blending until smooth.
Add the mushrooms and stir till well blended. After the mushrooms have been in the pot for a few minutes, add the chopped chicken pieces, the bacon, and the pimiento. Blend well.
Lightly grease a baking dish and pour the noodles and the cheese/chicken sauce into it. Stir until well blended.
Place in oven and bake about 15-20 minutes or until hot and bubbling. Do not allow to scorch.
April 26, 2015: Yesterday, I fired up the Smokenator on our Weber and cooked 17 rather meaty drumsticks. I cooked them nearly 4 hours; and I kept the temperature lower than usual. Sometimes even dropping below 200. Next time, I probably will cook even longer. (It was a bit hard to debone, but was EXTREMELY moist!)
I pretty much followed the instructions above but with one major exception; I cooked the mushrooms in a separate skillet. This allowed me to slightly brown the mushrooms in bacon fat; rather than just steaming them in the hot cheese sauce. I like it!
I didn’t put all 17 legs in the Tetrazinni, of course. I wound up freezing several cups of chicken. I probably put about 3 to 4 cups of diced meat in the dish. Very, very good.