Smoked Cheddar & BBQ Chicken French Bread

Smoked Cheddar & BBQ Chicken French Bread | Karri Perry; Blue Ribbon Favorites  

Ingredients:

French Bread- store bought or see recipe

2 chicken breasts-cooked and shredded

BBQ Sauce-see recipe or store bought

1/4 cup red onion-diced 

1/2 cup smoked cheddar cheese -grated

1/2 cup Monterey Jack shredded cheese

1 Tbs fresh parsley-chopped fine

3 Tbs Butter melted

1/2 tsp salt

2 garlic cloves minced

3 slices crisp bacon crumbled (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven 375 degrees

Slice French bread length wise. Place cut sides up on a foil lined baking sheet. 

Melt butter, add salt and minced garlic-stir. 

Drizzle the garlic-butter evenly between each pieces of bread.

Shredded Chicken Pro TIP: For shredded chicken… put the cooked chicken breast in the bowl of a stand mixer (paddle attachment) or a hand mixer with the regular mixing blades—turn on low and slowly increase speed to medium-and it will shred the chicken in 30 seconds… stop shredding when you reach desired shred-size… this is perfect for chicken salad or anytime you want shredded chicken.

This can be done with cooked  chicken breasts, that have been cooled/refrigerated  or hot from the oven… I’ve tried it both ways and was successful.

Pour 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce over the cooked shredded-and chicken-Mix together to coat the chicken.

Top the bread with a layer of the Monterey Jack cheese, add the BBQ chicken, add smoked cheddar, red onions, crispy bacon bits and parsley. Drizzle with additional 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce if desired.

Bake in a 375 degree oven on middle rack for 12-17 minutes-until heated through and the cheese is melted.  Slice and serve.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

3 Tablespoons yellow onion diced finely 

3 cloves garlic minced

 1 1/2 cups ketchup 

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 Tbs Dijon mustard

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika 

1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

3/4 cup cider vinegar

2 Tbs butter

Over medium heat, melt butter, cook onion for 4 minutes until soft, add garlic.  Turn heat to medium-low and add ketchup, sugar, spices, mustard, Worcestershire, and vinegar and stir well.  Cook on low for at least one hour to thicken.  Stir occasionally.  Place leftover BBQ sauce covered in refrigerator for up to 10 days.

Cinnamon Chip Pumpkin Bread

Cinnamon Chip Pumpkin Bread-Karri Perry|Blue Ribbon Favorites 

Makes Two 9x5 loaves 

Bake 350 for 60 minutes on middle oven rack.

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda 

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

15 ounce can pumpkin purée

3 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 cup vegetable oil 

1 tsp cinnamon 

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie  or apple pie spice

1/2 tsp allspice

1 cup cinnamon chips (I used Hershey’s cinnamon baking chips)

Cinnamon-Sugar Sprinkle: 2 tablespoons + 1/4 tsp cinnamon mixed-together and divided between the two loaves. Lightly sprinkle on batter before baking.

Directions:

Spray two 9” loaf pans with nonstick spray-add a piece of parchment-allowing the extra parchment to overhang the edges. (The extra parchment with be the handles to help remove bread from the pan)

Mix dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, powder, salt-set aside.

In a medium bowl, using a spatula mix together the pumpkin, sugars, oil, eggs, milk, and spices.

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture. Stir to combine-leaving no white streaks of flour. Fold in cinnamon chips.

Pour batter evenly into the two prepared pans. Sprinkle the top of each loaf with cinnamon-sugar, 1Tablespoon/loaf.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 60 minutes on the middle rack. Check the center of each loaf with a knife or toothpick-should come out cleanly when finished baking. 

Allow to cool 5 minutes then promptly transfer loaves to a wire rack, remove parchment paper—cool before slicing.

Can be made in 8x4” loaf pans-you may need adjust bake time by a few additional minutes to accommodate pan size change. Finished bread will have no wet batter when tested with a toothpick or knife.

Easy Buffalo Chicken Appetizers

Easy Buffalo Chicken Tortilla Appetizers-Karri Perry

Ingredients:

1 pound cooked and shredded chicken (about two chicken breasts or two generous cups of shredded meat)

8-ounces softened cream cheese

1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Sauce

1/4 cup chopped green onion

1/4 cup finely diced celery

1/4 cup finely shredded carrot 

1 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese

1/4 cup blue cheese dressing*

*May substitute with Ranch dressing if desired.

5-6 large tortilla-burrito wraps

1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper

Shredding Chicken Tip: when using cooked and cooled chicken breasts—a stand mixer or hand mixer makes quick work of shredding the meat. Start on low, and increase the speed as necessary.  Depending on how shredded you prefer your chicken-simply stop mixing when you reach the desired consistency— it takes just seconds… it probably takes longer to plug in the mixer than it does to shred the chicken!! This is a handy trick… and huge time saver!

Directions:

In a medium bowl, add the softened cream cheese-stir or whip with a mixer to loosen, add salt, pepper, and Buffalo sauce.  Mix to combine. Fold in the cooked shredded chicken, chopped green onion, shredded cheese, shredded carrot and diced celery. 

To each tortilla, spread 1 tablespoon of blue cheese dressing.  Add about 1/2-3/4 cup of chicken mixture, covering tortilla and spread to the edges of tortilla.

Tightly roll each tortilla. Place roll seam-side down on a large plate. Repeat, using the rest of the chicken mixture and the wraps (makes 5-6) Wrap finished tortilla rolls with plastic, and refrigerate for 2 hours-to overnight.

When ready to serve:

Remove plastic wrap-place toothpicks into the tortillas. Slice using a sharp aerated knife-into 5-6 pieces (each tortilla)-discarding the very end pieces. Tip: For even cutting, slice in half first and then cut each half into thirds. Repeat until all the tortillas are cut and place on a platter-serve with extra ranch and and blue cheese dip. Makes about 30 appetizers.

*Don’t care for blue cheese dressing?-replace with ranch dressing.

Brown Sugar Peach Cobbler

Brown Sugar Peach Cobbler-Karri Perry 

Ingredients:

1 15-ounce can peaches in heavy syrup—Reserve Syrup!

1 16-ounce bag frozen peaches

16 Tablespoons unsalted butter-melted-divided

1 cup brown sugar-divided

1/2 cup granulated sugar 

1 1/2 cups flour

1 large egg

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400-degrees.

In an 9x13 casserole dish, add the 8 Tablespoons of melted butter.

Add the frozen peaches is a single layer, followed by the canned peaches AND the syrup.  Sprinkle peaches with 1/2 cup brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In a medium bowl, add 8 tablespoons of melted butter-let cool slightly, then add 1/2 cup brown sugar, and granulated sugar, stir.  Add the egg and vanilla, stir to combine. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Pour the cobbler topping over the peaches. Tip: the batter will spread out while baking—simply dollop the batter and spread it evenly-as best you can… it’s ok if it’s not perfect—the oven will melt it and it will fill in as it bakes.

Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for 35-40 minutes uncovered on the middle oven rack-the cobbler will be ready when the cobbler is golden brown and bubbling throughout-or 180+ degrees internally.  

If the crust begins to look too brown toward the end of the bake time—lay a piece a aluminum foil gently across the top—another trick—is to carefully move the cobbler the the lowest rack for the last five minutes—this still allows the cobbler to bake, but gives the crust a little reprieve from the direct heat… (it’s just a way to accomplish a fully baked cobbler-and get the heat where you need it-without over browning the crust)

Allow cobbler to rest for 30 minutes before serving. Best served warm with vanilla ice cream.