Dijon Chicken with Double Cheese Bake

I bought a Land O Lakes cookbook about 13 years ago. I thought this cooking thing would be a passing phase. I still use it and it has some of the best recipes I have made. This was one I used to make for brunch. I hope everyone appreciates the fact that I am typing the recipe out.


6 cups cubed French bread
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar
1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella
10 eggs(Yow!)
1 1/3 cups milk
1/3 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp pepper

Grease a 13x9 pan and place bread inside. Layer with chicken, mushrooms, and cheeses. In a large bowl whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour over layered chicken mixture. Cover and refrigerate 6 hrs or overnight. Pre-heat oven to 325. Uncover and bake for 50-60 minutes or until set in the center. Let stand 10 minutes.

Bread Part Deux

This is how the bread turned out.

Dawn of the Bread

As always, I am the last one to catch a trend. Remember the whole poncho thing. Well, when it comes to food I try to stay current. There is a column in the NY Times called the "The Minimalist." by Mark Bittman. He writes about easy ways to create great dishes. Now remember, easy doesn't equal fast.

This past week he wrote about a bread you make in bowl that you DO NOT knead! Isn't kneading the hassle. I think so. This weekend Snark and I are setting out to make the recipe. I am amazed at how many posts there are about this bread and it has been positive. So being the geek I am I am going to take digital pictures and post it. But if the bread turns out bad I'm posting someone else's pictures :)

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1 1/2-pound loaf.

Happy Birthday, Cupcake

Today my youngest is 8. She has always marched to her own drummer including choosing when she was going to arrive (3 days late!). We had to drag her out of her temporary housing to meet the world. This kid impressed us immensely with her excellent timing. When we took the diaper off, she would shoot poop out 2 feet (I know, I took it upon myself to measure it one day.) Her sense of wackiness was just blossoming. Up till the age of 3, she thought it was hilarious to scream in a quiet room and then laugh at everyones' startled looks. She has yet to get a filter between her brain and her mouth. "Mom, can all ladies grow mustaches?"

The woman Anni was talking about was standing 5 feet in front of us in the store. The woman looked up. I said, "Anni, let's go!" Anni replied, "Yeah, but she must want one, she grew it."

In honor of Anni's birthday, Snark and the girls baked up some peanut butter cupcakes for the occasion. No, Snark didn't frost each one with a mustache. ... Like Anni, they're a load of fun, and sure to inspire guilt!

Chocolate peanut-butter cupcakes (from Epicurious)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons double acting baking powder
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy cream

In a bowl whisk together the flour, the baking powder, and a pinch of salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer cream together the brown sugar, the peanut butter, and the butter and beat in the egg and the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, beating well after each addition, and stir in 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips. Divide the batter among 12 paper-lined 1/2-cup muffin tins and bake the cupcakes in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Turn the cupcakes out onto a rack and let them cool completely. In another bowl combine the remaining 3/4 cup chocolate chips and the cream, scalded, let the chips soften, and whisk the mixture until it is smooth. Let the icing cool completely, whisk it until it is fluffy, and spread it on the cupcakes.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Baked Shrimp

4 scallions
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 pounds large (21-25 count) shrimp
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
One 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes in juice
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or oregano

PREP Chop white and green parts of scallions. Finely chop garlic. Peel and devein shrimp.

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add scallions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until scallions wilt, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and their juice and bring to a boil. Cook until tomato juices thicken, about 5 minutes. Season with freshly ground pepper to taste.

2. Remove from heat and stir in shrimp. Sprinkle with feta cheese.

3. Bake until cheese melts and shrimp are firm and opaque, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with dill and serve hot.

Receipe courtesy of epicurious.com