Tag: bread

Quarantine Chicken Divan

This is a recipe I received from my mother-in-law several months ago. Josh grew up eating this dish and I’ve been able to make it for Josh a time or two according to the recipe. However, with this pandemic, I’m not able to get to the store as much as normal, and things with short shelf lives are used up very quickly in my house because I don’t want them going bad. So, things this recipe would usually call for, like sour cream, I didn’t have.

There are many things I did differently with this recipe, or should have done differently. First, I didn’t microwave my broccoli before baking. Though the broccoli did cook in the oven, there was water in the bottom of the casserole dish. Cooking and straining the broccoli would help this, you could also use fresh broccoli if you have some. I baked my chicken breast for 40 minutes since it was still half frozen. I took the internal temperature and it was up to 170 F, so though the juices from the chicken have some color, it isn’t dangerous, I also had to bake it again in the casserole, so even if there were under temperature spots, they would be cooked again in the casserole. I made a lot of alteration to the sauce. The recipe called for less mayo and sour cream. I don’t usually have sour cream on hand, and I also had no vanilla yogurt for that tangy flavor. So, I added in ranch for a bit of that dairy tang, and I really enjoyed the extra flavor from it. I didn’t realize the onion and garlic flavor would taste so good in this recipe! I also added lots more curry powder than original, and I added some cumin for even more flavor. The sour cream and curry powder made me think this recipe has an inspiration from Indian cuisine, so I added the cumin to add a bit more of the Indian spice without the heat. I also didn’t add all of the spice into the sauce mix like I should have. I tasted the sauce and it was lacking, so I gave the sauce a dusting of curry powder and cumin once it was already spread in the casserole dish. It’s an inconsistent way of measuring so it’s best to put it in the sauce and mix it in evenly. Then I shredded a block of sharp cheese. I keep them in the freezer because they tend to go bad in my fridge, and shredding frozen cheese is so much easier! I then grabbed a loaf of homemade bread I made last week, crumbled it over the top of the casserole, then sprinkled it with the standard stuffing herbs, sage and thyme. I dusted very lightly over the top, because you don’t want too much stuffing flavor, you want more of the Indian spice flavor. This dish made 6 serving for us.

  1. Bake a 1 lb chicken breast at 400 F for 30-40 minutes until an internal temperature over 165 F is reached. Spray an 9 x 13 casserole dish with non-stick spray.
  2. Grab a 12 oz bag of frozen broccoli and microwave it as directed. Strain any excess water from your broccoli and make one even layer in your casserole dish.
  3. Let your baked chicken cool for 5 minutes, transfer into a large bowl and shred the chicken using a hand or stand mixer. Evenly spread the shredded chicken over the broccoli.
  4. In a medium sized bowl, mix together 3/4 cup mayo, 1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup, 3 Tbsp ranch dressing, 3 tsp of curry powder, and 2 tsp cumin. Stir until mixed, then spread in an even layer over the shredded chicken.
  5. Reduce oven to 375 F
  6. Shred 8 oz of sharp cheese and spread evenly over sauce. Cube about 2 cups of bread (use stale bread if you have any) and spread evenly over your cheese layer. Sprinkle over the top a dusting of sage and thyme.
  7. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
0

French Bread Pizza

I’ve had an old Italian loaf in my freezer for months. I made this back when I made my Homemade Italian Bread post in March. It had a little freezer burn, but over all it survived very well in my freezer for a month. Josh and I needed a quick dinner the other day and I had just mad more bread on Monday, so my starter was still maturing in the fridge. This is similar to my other pizza recipes as far as toppings and seasoning. You can add more toppings as you desire, but i’m reserving what I can because of the pandemic. I baked my bread an extra 10 minutes at the beginning to thaw it, but otherwise, I did the exact steps listed below.

  1. Heat an oven to 350 F
  2. Divide an Italian loaf (or french bread) in half by length and then cutting each half in half.
  3. Place the cut bread onto a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes to toast your bread.
  4. Once toasted, top your bread with tomato sauce, a sprinkle of garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and marjoram. Top with a thick layer of shredded mozzarella, the sprinkle on some oregano.
  5. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
0

French Toast With Homemade Bread

French toast is a filling and sticky breakfast. I used a third loaf of white bread to make this french toast, and I cut the slices to be about 1/4 inch thick. The mixture didn’t penetrate the bread very far, but the flavoring was fantastic. The vanilla extract was absolutely fantastic. I made another batch of this again and this week we’ll be doing that for breakfast. To reheat french toast, heat in a skillet for 1-2 minutes per side, or microwave for 1 -2 minutes.

  1. Heat a skillet to medium heat, of 250 F. In an open faced dish whisk together 2 eggs and 1/2 cup of milk. Add 1 tsp nutmeg, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tsp cinnamon, and 1 Tbsp sugar.
  2. Cut your bread to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Butter your hot skillet. Dip each side of your bread for about 30 seconds for firmer breads, then immediately transfer into hot skillet. Cook each side for 2-3 minutes. Serve with butter and syrup. Makes 8-12 pieces.
0

White Bread Loaves from Starter

This white bread recipe is by far the best bread I have ever made. Not only is it so simple, I could make these beautiful loaves, but it is delicious and slightly sweet. I’ve used this bread for a sandwich and for bread and butter and it is so delicious. It tastes just like locally homemade bread that you’d buy at a store. I would highly recommend. It took me 1 hour for each proof, but both loaves turned out beautifully, big and full, with lots of small pockets of air inside.

Here is a link to my starter.

  1. In a mixing bowl, add 2 cups of starter (If you don’t have starter bloom 1 1/2 Tbsp active yeast in 2 cups warm water and 2 cups flour), add 4 cups flour, 2/3 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup oil.
  2. Mix by hand or with a dough hook until dough comes together. Knead until elastic. Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  3. Grease 2 9×5 bread pans. Punch down the dough, divide in half, kneed, and form into loafs. Place each in a prepared pan, and let sit until doubled in size, 30 minutes to 1 hour. Heat oven to 350 F.
  4. Once risen to 1/2 to 3/4 of the pan full, bake for 30 minutes. Let cool for 15 minute before serving.
1

Peanut Butter And Honey Sandwich

Honey is a great alternative to jelly in this classic sandwich if like me you’ve run out of jelly. I hope to make my own jelly this summer to prevent this from happening again, however I’ve found honey to be a great substitution for jelly. Honey and jelly and very similar in flavor, so honey provides the sweet that compliments the peanut butter. Honey is heavier than jelly, so it makes the sandwich denser and stickier. You should only used about 1-2 Tbsp honey per sandwich. The bread absorbs a lot of the honey, but this prevents runoff.

0

Website Powered by WordPress.com.

Up ↑

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started