To get started, here is a fun recipe. I had a bunch of leftover ham from our Christmas dinner, so I looked at dozens of recipes for ham. This one stood out to me because it looked so good. I found it at one of my go-to blogs for recipes- melskitchencafe.com. Here's the link to her: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/06/cheesy-ham-and-broccoli-crescent-braid.html
She used canned crescent dough. I didn't have any on hand, so I used Mel's French bread recipe that I love. I made the recipe for the dough as directed, then took half to make this braid and used the other half to make 9 medium sized dinner rolls. Store-bought would have been way easier, but homemade was really yummy. (I think it would have looked and tasted better if I brushed some melted butter over it.)
Here's the recipe:
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups cooked ham, chopped
1 cup fresh broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (I used honey mustard because my boys LOVE it)
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 (8 ounce) can refrigerated crescent roll dough
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine ham, broccoli, parsley, mustard and cheese. Stir well. (I actually found it was easiest to use my hands and mix everything up to evenly distribute the mustard and parsley.)
Unroll the crescent roll dough and arrange flat on a n 11X17 baking sheet. Pinch together perforations to form a single sheet of dough (adapt or eliminate this step if using the Recipe Creations or using homemade bread/crescent dough). Using a knife or scissors, cut 1 inch wide strips in towards the center, starting on the long sides. There should be a solid strip about 3 inches wide down the center, with the cut strips forming a fringe down each side. Spread the filling along the center strip (it will be piled high but the strips will reach over the mound of filling when it is braided). Fold the side strips over filling, alternating strips from each side and pressing them into the dough on the opposite side, forming a braid. Pinch or twist to seal.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until deep golden brown. Cut into slices and serve immediately.
So what was the verdict? Did your boys eat it? Would you make this again?
ReplyDeleteSorry I forgot to say how we liked it! Silly me. We all liked it. Abe refused to eat the broccoli, as always. Andy said he would have liked it better with more ham.
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