.chicken cordon bleu pockets.

I love Chicken Cordon Blue. Traditionally it's a pounded out chicken breast a layer of ham and a slice of swiss cheese all rolled up. Then breaded and baked. I was in the mood to try something a little different and take these three ingredients but wrap them in bread dough.

Recently, another company contacted me asking if I would try their product too. This company is J.B. Dough. They're located in Benton Harbor, Michigan and I have to say, their bread mixes are pretty tasty. You can make them by hand, or using a bread machine, but with this recipe, I used my Kitchen Aid.


Open the package and put the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl. Dissolve the yeast packet in warm water. Follow the directions on the package.


Knead out on a floured counter and cover to let rise until almost double. Punch dough down and knead again.


Chop up some slices of ham.


Cut up some swiss cheese.


And then chop up some chicken breasts. You want to cut them into chunks to ensure they're baked thoroughly. If you used whole chicken breast, you run the risk of the bread pocket overbaking and having raw chicken in the middle. Ick.


Divide the dough into 4-6 pieces. You can make some larger and some smaller for kids if you want.

Take each piece and roll out into a circle.


Put some chicken, ham, and swiss cheese in the center. Season well with salt and pepper.


Pull all the edges up into a little pouch and pinch closed.


Turn the pouch upside down so the seam is on the bottom. Place on a baking sheet sprayed with Pam. Repeat until all the dough and filling ingredients are used up.


In a bowl, put one egg and one Tablespoon water. Mix up.


Brush the eggwash on top of each of the bread pouches. Make sure you get as much of the surface as you can. Place the sheet in a 350* oven for about 40-45 minutes. If the tops start browning too much, put a sheet of foil on top.


The tops will be beautifully golden. Pull from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes.


See how yummy that looks. The chicken was so tender and moist. The swiss cheese coated the chicken and ham and the fresh baked bread surrounding it soaked in all of the flavors. A perfect twist on a traditional meal.

Something that would be really awesome? Make these mini sized for parties! I think you'll have people inviting themselves to your get togethers if you start serving these. Enjoy!

Congratulations to the winners!

Congratulations to the winners for The Spice Depot giveaway!

They are:

1)Kari
2)Shanin
3)Connie
4)Gilles Family*
5)Kathleen* (from Utah)
6)Lorilee*
7)Jenifer
8)Regan*
9)Kristen*

If your name has an asterisk by it, you need to email me at the.upper.crust@tds.net ASAP with your mailing address so I can get it to The Spice Depot. Please choose one of the flavors below so I can let The Spice Depot representative know which grinder you'd like. Thank you!


Spice options:
BBQ Burger
Garlic Pepper
JoJo Potato
Salads
Sea Salt
Spicy Chicken
Black Peppercorns
Hot and Spicy
NY Steak
Seafood
Smokey Rib
Spicy Sea Salt

To those who weren't able to get in on the giveaway, you can find these awesome grinders at your local Walmart (US and Canada)! Please leave a comment here thanking The Spice Depot for being SOOOOO generous in giving me the extra grinders for this giveaway! We appreciate you!

And never fret... I have another giveaway coming up NEXT WEEK so keep your eyes peeled! ;)

The Spice Depot -- GIVEAWAY!!!!

A couple weeks ago, I was contacted by a representative of The Spice Depot asking if I would try out their product and share it with my readers. I gladly offered and am very excited about what I have to tell you.

If you have never heard of this company, they offer fresh spices and herbs to compliment your meals. Their spices come in little grinder jars with organic (ORGANIC!) herbs, spices, and often times sea salt and peppercorn.

In my previous entry, Beef Minestrone Soup, I used their SALAD grinder to season the soup. It has the perfect blend of black pepper, sea salt, garlic, mustard seed, onion, rosemary, chive, and basil.


To find out more about this company, you can find them at The Spice Depot online, or you can look here to find out where you can get some for yourself. Their website offers recipes and even gives you ideas for wine pairing!


Now for the exciting part. I have NINE of these little beauties to give away to the first 9 readers to comment on this thread. The product will be shipped directly from The Spice Depot warehouse at no cost to me or to you and I would like to thank them for offering that!

So don't waste any time! Let me know if you would like to try this product in your home. :)

Suzanne

.beef minestrone soup.

This is the best soup you will ever make. It's rich, full of vitamins, full of vegetables, some meat, protein, iron and it's delicious!

Yesterday I was on the phone with a sister from Church who is very sick. She does so much for everyone, that I thought I would do something for her. So I told her to just relax and I was bringing a big pot of soup over for her and her husband.

My mom is a really good soup maker. I have actually gotten better at making soup the past 5 years or so. This one is my daughter's favorite because she plays a game -- figuring out what I put in the pot. So much fun. If you have kids that might shy away from soup, try this one and let them have a contest to find the most items in the pot!


First, chop up 2 stalks of celery. I left them in nice slices so visually they look good.


Find two skinny carrots.

Peel and chop. Again, I leave them in their round shape -- that's why I pick skinny carrots so they're bite sized.


Peel one big, or two small gold or white potatoes.

Dice into bite sized chunks.


Dice one small onion. I had some red onion that needed using so I used that. It's okay to use white, yellow, or red!


Mince two cloves garlic.


Take 1 lb stew meat or stir fry meat.

The stir fry meat, that I used, was cut into long thin strips. I cut those strips into smaller pieces.


In a soup pot, heat a little olive oil. Put the meat in with one bay leaf and cook.


When it's almost cooked, add all of the vegetables and garlic to the pot. Stir around and cook.


Season well. I used a brand from the Spice Depot. This blend is great on salad, but I used it in my soup because it had all of the herbs I wanted.

In my next entry, I want to share a little bit about this company and their products. Some great stuff. I think you'll be interested in hearing more about them.


When the potatoes start looking glossy, add 3 cans beef broth and 1 can chicken broth.

I always add a can of chicken to my beefy soups because beef broth can often taste very flat.


Then add 1 can diced tomatoes (undrained), and 1 can white beans - either great northern or navy. Do not drain these either. Just dump it all in.

Mix well and re-season with the spice depot spice grinder.

Bring to a boil.


Once the soup starts boiling, reduce heat to low and add 1/2 cup frozen or fresh peas.


Add 1/2 cup corn, fresh or frozen.


And add 1/2 cup green beans cut, fresh or frozen.

**At this stage, I did add about 1 tsp sugar to the pot. This is optional.

Cover the pot and let cook for about 30-40 minutes. Before serving, remove the bay leaf. Serve with rolls, bread, crackers, and salad.

NOTE: If you want to make this in the crockpot, first cook the meat almost to completion on the stove. Spoon into your crockpot and add all of the remaining ingredients. Season well. Cover with the lid and turn on medium or high. Cook until vegetables are cooked through - about 6-8 hours.


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_119f6hgtqfs

.dutch apple cheesecake.

If you haven't noticed, my blog is taking a slight transformation. One problem I've been running into is the new alignment has messed up some of my older entries - pictures are smooshed together and words are difficult to read. If you encounter one of these problems, please email me. I've gotten pretty far back, but still need to do the rest so anything from January to April hasn't been touched but I will get to it within the next couple days.

More changes will take place, but do not be alarmed. I'm only doing it to give my blog a more streamline look. I appreciate your comments so keep them coming! Let me know what you think. :)

Alright.. now on to the good stuff. I feel like I've been making a lot of apple things lately but it's only because it's so "fall-ish" and apple is one of my favorites. This cheesecake is really a showstopper because it has pieces of cinnamon apples folded into the batter and has a buttery crumb topping. It's sure to be a hit at any of your holiday gatherings this year.



Peel, core and chop 2 granny smith apples. You could probably use any firm baking apple you want. I prefer granny smith. Go with what you like!


Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a skillet.


Add the apples and stir to coat with the butter. Start sauteeing over medium high heat.


Add 1/4 cup brown sugar.


Add a pinch of kosher salt.


And add 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

Stir everything to coat and cook until the brown sugar begins to caramelize on the apples. Don't let the apples cook too long because you don't want them turning to mush when it bakes in the oven.


Set aside and allow to cool. Now let's make the crust.


You want to use this kind of graham crackers. Make sure they say cinnnnamoonnnnn. Repeat after me. "Cinnnnamonnnnnn."


Take out one pack and put in a ziploc. Crush with a rolling pin or your choice of crushing machinery.


Add 1/2 cup oatmeal. I used quick oats but you can use regular as well.


Add 2 Tbsp sugar.


Pour in 4 Tbsp melted butter.

Smoosh everything together until all the graham crackers and oatmeal are coated with butter.


Pour all the contents of the ziploc into the springform pan. Use the back of the measuring cup and press into the bottom.


See? Nice and packed.


In a mixing bowl, put 4 - 8oz packages cream cheese and 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter. Use a whisk attachment and beat until smooth.


Add 1 cup sugar Mix on high until fluffy.


Add 3 eggs one at a time, mixing between each addition.


Add 3 Tbsp flour.


Add 1 tsp vanilla and mix well.



Fold in 1 cup sour cream.


Dump in the cinnamon apples and fold into the batter.


Pour into pan and smooth out.

Now at this point, the batteries on my camera decided to DIE ON ME so you'll just have to picture the image in your own head.

Wrap the base of the pan with heavy duty foil. You want to make sure water doesn't seep into the pan while it bakes.

Set the pan on a cookie sheet or some kind of pan with sides. Add water and put in a 325* oven. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. When the middle is setting, it's time to add the topping!


Put 1 cup flour and 2/3 cup brown sugar in a bowl. Mix together.


Cut in 1/2 cup butter.


Add 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Nuts are optional so if you don't want them, don't add them.


Open the oven and without taking the cheesecake out of the oven, spread the topping all over the top.

Raise the temp to 350* and bake another hour to hour and half. The topping should be nice and golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temp. Cover the top with foil and put in the fridge and chill completely, if not overnight.

To get nice slices of cheesecake, heat a butcher knife until hot water. Dry the knife and slice. Serve with a little caramel sauce and some whipped cream.


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_114c9sph7gp