Chicken/Cheese/Broccoli Soup w/Bread Bowl

What's for dinner??? When it's really cold
outside (like it has been here) There's nothing
better than comfort food..Something hot,
filling & tastes simply out of this world!!!

One of the great things I have found in doing
this blog for the last 6 months (besides finding new
wonderful people to have in my life..like all
of you!!!) is finding great recipes & rediscovering
old family favorites that have been handed
down from generation to generation.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to use up
the food we have & make meals from the
ingredients I have on hand...
This is one of those recipes..I had a lot of
broccoli, & chicken to use up..So this is what
I came up with...Hope you like it...

So let's begin to make this phenomenal
"Chicken/Cheese/Broccoli Soup"...and
Bread Bowl (next time the bowl will be from
scratch...I promise & I'll give you the recipe)

I love the eye appeal this has when using the
Sourdough French Bread as a "Soup Bowl."
This recipe is from Liz K. as adapted by Sister's
Cafe...

I have changed the recipe to include chicken
(I always like to have more protein if possible)
& mixed Mexican cheese I had on hand...

RECIPE
1 can chicken broth (about 2 cups)
1 small onion, diced

1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. butter
Pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp.)

2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (sharper...better)
1/2 c. shredded Swiss cheese
1 c. Mixed Mexican cheeses
2-3 c. steamed broccoli florets (chopped in pieces)
3 chicken breasts (skinless/boneless/cooked) diced
1 Lg. Round Sourdough French Bread

Directions:
Simmer chicken broth & chopped onions for
15-20 min. in a covered saucepan, until onions
are soft. Heat milk in microwave for 1-2 min.

In a separate lg-size sauce pan, melt butter
& then add flour and pepper. See Photo Below..
Cook together for a couple of minutes until thickened..

Add warm milk until blended...Then add chicken

broth w/onions, cheeses, steamed broccoli, &

lg. pieces of diced chicken. Stir & heat together

on medium-high heat until soup starts to thicken..

As shown in next 3 photos...

Ouuu..it looks sooo good & smells even better!!!!

I wish you could SMELL IT!!

Now for the Bread Bowl.....I had planned to make

them from scratch, but the afternoon flew by &

(I made Bread pudding instead..that will have to be

for another post) Wish you could smell that too!!!

Anyway I needed this done to take dinner into a dear

friend (& her family) who just came home from the

hospital..So I was fine with store bought...See Below:

Looking further below... shows how I cut the "Top"

off with an electric knife (It's easiest I think) & then

cut a circle around the loaf (leaving about 1/2"

of bread creating the "bowl". Then pull out (by hand)

the soft bread..

(You can use that to eat with the soup..Same with

the top..You can eat it with the soup or maybe with

some spinach dip like we did...)

It is out of this world....Try it & let me know what

your family thinks...

It is so delicious & Comforting on a Cold, Gray

day outside...It's nice to be cozy & warm &

have a delicious nutritious meal that you

know will leave your family cozy & warm on

the inside, too.

Delicious Chicken/Cranberry Braid

Ohhh...This is sooo good!!! My daughter
gave me this wonderful recipe for a
CHICKEN/CRANBERRY BRAID....

I changed the original recipe from Turkey
to Chicken.. Ham would work, too. The
flavors are sooo incredible...the Swiss Cheese
melting into the Chicken...the Cranberries
bursting with flavor & sweetness, along with
the crispness of Celery, crunch of Walnuts,
& the little bite that comes with the Dijon
mustard....Quite a WOW combination...

I don't even like celery but in this.....I love it....
I've made this 2 times in the last week..
It was that good!!!

This recipe comes from the"Season's Best
Recipe Collection" 2000 from Pampered
Chef...



Below: is the "Pampered Chef....Stone."
They have some great recipes & ideas...I never
knew what a "Stone" was to cook on until I was
invited to a Pampered Chef Party many yrs. ago.

Some of the things "a stone" does is to cook Pizza,
Cookies, & this Braid thoroughly.... You don't
have to worry about the middle being cooked
all the way through as well as the edges....It
just does it.....
Recipe
2 pkgs. Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 c. cooked chicken (chopped)
1/2 c. celery (sliced)
3 Tbsp. parsley (fresh or dried)
1 c. Swiss cheese (shredded)
1/4 c. chopped walnuts ( I used 3/4 c.)

1 egg (for gloss from egg wash on top of braid)
Bake @ 350F. for 25 min. (ovens may vary)

In a bowl mix all ingredients together...set aside

Unroll the pkgs of crescent rolls..Place triangle
pieces on stone layered (a little on top of each other)
as shown below....Put straight side down the middle
& pinch/push together to make stick...

Above: shows how to place the unwrapped crescent
triangles...& push them together so they stick...

Next Below: Mix the ingredients together


Now Below: Scoop the mixture onto the
dough (down the middle) A large Cookie
Scoop works great...

Next Below: Take one triangle at a time and

fold over (one side then the other) It looks

mummy like..Ha! It'll look great after you put on

the egg wash...

Above: Beat the egg with a fork or whisk and

use a pastry brush to brush back & forth over the

entire braid for a beautiful gloss & flakey crust.

And out of the oven it comes..Beautiful...

Doesn't it look delicious???? It tastes

as good as it looks...It would Great for

a Super Bowl party...It's great for Turkey

leftovers...Chicken... Ham...

Let me know how you like it......Yummmm...

Sweet and Sour Chicken

This is absolutely the best Sweet & Sour
Chicken I've had in a long time..... My family
was raving about it as well when we had it for dinner
last night. This is on my Top 15 of All Time -
Favorites...I hope you'll give it a try and see if
it'll be one of yours....

This recipe is from The Kitchen Cafe.....The only
thing is that I had a little trouble when I dipped
the chicken pieces into the cornstarch, then into
the egg mixture, then into the frying pan.....I
managed to make somewhat of a mess.....especially
with the cornstarch/egg mixture.

That being said.......it was worth it....The smell
coming from the oven reminded me of Panda
Express... It was heavenly......I know Rachel Ray
is always saying she wishes her TV audience
watching could have smellavision....I wish
you could have that too.

Note:(I think the best tasting chicken is @ Vons...
when I try others I'm disappointed with the flavor.
It's a 4 lb. bag in the Meat section of the market and
it's called "Young Boneless/Skinless ice glazed
chicken" (and it's frozen) I was able to make this meal,
as well as dinner for another night (Malibu Chicken
w/mustard sauce.....It's my take of Sizzler's Malibu
Chicken which I will post another day in the near
future) The chicken breasts were huge and there
were a lot of them. I think it was a good value....

RECIPE
For the chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
Salt & Pepper
1 c. cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. canola oil (I didn't use that much I used a few
shakes from my oil decanter......I cannot
think of what its called..Does anyone
know the name of this kind of oil bottle???

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season
with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and
then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not
cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking
dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and
pour over chicken.

Sauce:
3/4 c. sugar
4 Tbsp. ketchup
1/2 c. vinegar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. garlic salt

Bake for 1 hour at 325F. Turn chicken every
15 min. If you like extra sauce, make another batch
of sauce and bring to boil on stove top. Stir constantly
and let cook over medium heat until thickened
and reduced...(about 6-8 min)

(The sauce is so great you probably will want
that extra batch)

BBQ Chicken (Fast/Easy)

I love.....this BBQ Chicken....and so does everybody
else who has tried it.....I'm told......it's really juicy &
delicious..... I really like to BBQ (when it's not hard
& it ends up tasting really good!) I tried a few different
ways of BBQ-ing chicken & this (for me) is the fastest
& easiest way to get Great Results.....

1) I get the chicken (a bag about 4lbs.)
@ Vons on sale price for about $8-$9.99 for
10-12 boneless/skinless breast pieces) The
number of the chicken breasts in the bag can
vary, but the taste is the BEST. Sometimes it
will be $5-$6..then I really stock up. The
flavor is the best tasting out of all the different
chicken breasts & tenders that I've tried.

2) TIP....I fry it on the stove first before I BBQ....
I do 1/2 of the bag at a time....Put a little canola
oil in a HOT frying pan...(you'll use less oil that
way) spread it all around, then I sprinkle garlic
powder.....lite salt.... and pepper on both sides
of the chicken pieces.

TIP..(seer on both sides to keep the juices in....)
Let cook on med. heat til 3/4 done..

3) Put on plate and ....TIP....brush each piece
with a brush or two of oil (on each side) so the juices will
stay inside the chicken...(that was a Bobby Flay's TIP....)

4) Pre-Heat BBQ grill to around 350F-375F....(you
may want to do this before you start cooking the chicken
on the stove so it'll be ready to go when you are)

5) When the grill is ready....put chicken on.....
let cook for a minute or two (with cover of grill
down...to get that smokey flavor) and then flip
chicken over and cook on other side......then start
brushing a coat of BBQ sauce (I used Kraft Honey
BBQ sauce) on one side, grill for a few min. (always
shut the lid in between... to keep the smokey
flavor in the chicken) then the other.....

6) Then repeat (I did it 3 or 4 times) just for a min.
or 2 each time...til they have finished cooking.......
and look done......and enjoy!!!