Tube French Bread

Tube French Bread

I used 2 tube pans I bought from Pampered Chef many years ago and do not believe they are still available. I did search for 'Pampered Chef bread tubes' and other sources are available if you want to purchase.

1 3/8 cup warm water
olive oil
sugar
salt
4 cups flour
2 tsp bread machine yeast

Place ingredients in bread machine according to manufacturer's instructions.  For mine, the liquid ingredients go in first, Then the dry ingredients except the yeast,  A well is made in the flour to add the yeast.

Spray the tube pans and end covers well with oil. Place one end on each tube.
Process on the dough cycle.  Once completed remove the dough and divide in half.  Place one portion in each of the tube pans.  Place other end on the open end and allow to stand for 20 minutes.  Open the top end cover and remove dough to allow about 2 inches of empty space at the top of the tube.  You can shape the removed dough into some rolls and bake with the tubes.
Replace end cover on the tube pan.

Place tube pans vertically in the oven.  (Standing tall).  Bake about 1 hour.  If baking extra dough as rolls, they will only require about 20 minutes.

Once baked, take pans out of oven and remove the end caps.  Allow the bread to cool 10 minutes in the tubes before removing.   Allow loaves to cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.  The bread will be very crusty and a serrated bread knife works best for slicing without distorting the shapes.

Hot Bacon Dip

Hot Bacon Dip

Originally recipe here

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups light sour cream
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 package Bacon Bits - real bacon recipe pieces, reserve some for topping
1/2 cup sliced green onion plus some for topping

Preheat oven to 400
Place cream cheese in a large bowl and stir a little.  Add sour cream and mix well.  Reserve some of the bacon pieces and green onions for topping after baking.  Stir in the rest of the bacon pieces, green onions and the cheddar cheese.
Spread in a pie plate.  Bake 25 - 30 minutes or until bubbly and hot.
Top with reserved bacon and green onions.
Serve with bread slices.

Pepperoni Macaroni

Pepperoni Macaroni
(Quick Cooking - Marlene Mohr, Ohio)

One of Rebekah's favorites.

2 1/2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1 pound ground beef or bulk sausage
15 ounce can pizza sauce
8 ounce can tomato sauce
1/3 cup milk
3.5 oz package of sliced pepperoni - cut slices in half
4.2 oz jar/can of sliced mushrooms
2.25 oz can sliced black olives, drained (I just slice up about 1/3 cup of black olives since I usually buy the whole ones)
1 cup (4 oz) shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350.
Cook macaroni according to package directions for al dente. Drain.
Meanwhile, in a skillet, brown the ground beef until no longer pink, drain.
In a large bowl, combine the pizza sauce, tomato sauce and milk.
Stir in meat, macaroni, pepperoni, mushrooms and olives.

Pour into a greased 13 x 9 inch casserole.  Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Uncover and sprinkle with cheese.  Bake 10 - 15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

8-10 servings

Tuna Casserole

Tuna Casserole

16 ounces wide egg noodles (I used no-yolk)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup diced white or yellow onion

1 cup diced carrot

3 gloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup chicken stock

1 1/2 cup milk

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

3 (5 ounce) cans tuna in water, drained

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Panko bread crumbs

olive oil spray

Preheat oven to 400 F. Prepare 9 x 13 inch baking dish by spraying with olive oil.

Cook egg noodles al dente according to package instructions.  Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, saute onion and carrot in olive oil in large skillet for 5-7 minutes or until both are softened.   Add garlic and saute for 1 minute more.  Stir in flour and cook for 1 more minute.

Whisk in the chicken broth until combined, then add milk, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, mushrooms and tuna.   Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches a simmer and thickens,  The mushrooms should be cooked. Remove from heat and stir in 2 cups shreddded cheddar cheese. Cheese will not necessarily melt - that's okay.

Place drained noodles in baking dish.  Spoon tuna and mushroom sauce over the noodles and mix. 

Sprinkle with Panko bread crumbs and spray lightly with olive oil.

Bake 18-20 minutes or until the top of the pasta is slightly browned and sauce is bubbly on the edges.

Serve warm.



Beef and mushrooom skillet dinner

Beef and Mushroom Skillet Dinner


1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
3 cups beef broth (I only had 2 cups so added 1 cup chicken broth)
16 oz dry pasta ( I used bowtie pasta)
1 cup sour cream


Brown and drain the ground beef - set aside.
Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until tender.   Add the sliced mushrooms and cook several minutes.  Add ground beef and broth.  Stir to mix well. 
Bring to a boil.  Add pasta, stir to mix.  Cover and allow to cook.  Stir occassionally until pasta is al dente.
Turn temperature down to low and stir in 1 cup sour cream.

Crescent Chicken

Crescent Chicken



This is a recipe I came up with by taking bits and pieces from other recipes on Pinterest.  It was good - Tom really liked it.  Might make a few changes the next time I make it.

1 can Jumbo Crescent rolls (8 rolls)

4 cups shredded chicken

8 oz cream cheese, softened

Salt and pepper

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 can skim milk

Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray 9 x 13 baking dish with olive oil. 

Mix together the chicken and cream cheese - add salt and pepper to taste.

Separate the crescent rolls.  Slightly flatten one roll.  Place about 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture at the wide end of the triangular roll.  Pull up the sides to cover the mixture ending with the long pointed end.  Make sure the chicken is completely covered by the dough and the dough is pinched together to seal.  Place in casserole. 

Repeat with other 7 crescent rolls.

Mix together the soup and a can full of milk.  Pour around the chicken crescents in the baking dish.  Be careful to not pour over the crescents as it will prevent them from browning and will get the dough soggy.

Sprinkle crescents with Parmesan cheese.

Bake 25- 30 minutes or until crescents are golden brown and sauce is bubbly.

Bake 25 - 30 minutes.



Spinach Breakfast Casserole

Spinach Breakfast Casserole

7 cups (firmly packed) fresh baby spinach
olive oil
3-4 green onions, diced, include the greens
1 1/2 - 2 cups mozzarella cheese
8 eggs beaten (or equivalent Eggbeaters)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
Bacon bits, optional

Preheat oven to 375.
Saute spinach in a large skillet with a small amount of olive oil, just until it is wilted.  Do not overcook.

 Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with olive oil. Arrange the spinach in the dish.

Top with green onions and cheese.  Mix the nutmeg, salt and pepper with the eggs.  (Since I was using the whole carton of EggBeaters, I added the spices to the carton and shook vigorously - it works :-)
Pour eggs over the layers in the baking dish.  Using a knife or fork. lightly stir the mixture to get the egg spread throughout.
Bake about 35 minutes or until center is set.

This was good - and even better the next day as the spinach flavor got a little stronger.