Crusty meat braid

Ok, so this wasn't supposed to be a cooking blog, but I have another great recipe to share! This is also from the Set for Life cookbook. I think it is about my favorite cookbook!

Crusty Meat Braid

Turkey or beef filling (see below)
2 to 3 c. whole wheat bread or roll dough
2 T. finely grated cheese

Prepare filling. roll dough to about 9x15 inches and1/4 inch thick. Spread filling down the middle third of the dough. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 inch strips on each side of the filling, cutting almost to the filling. Braid dough over the meat (overlapping the strips), tucking in the last strip. Place on a baking sheet. Let raise 5 to 10 minutes, then bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Pour remaining sauce from filling recipe over the top and sprinkle with cheese.

Turkey Filling

2 c. cooked and cubed turkey or chicken
1 t. dried minced onion
1 c. frozen peas and carrots, slightly cooked and drained
1 4-oz can of mushrooms, drained
1 10 3/4-oz can of cream of mushroom soup
salt and pepper 

Mix turkey, onion, peas and carrots, and mushrooms. Add half the soup to the turkey mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix the remaining soup with a few tablespoons of milk to achieve gravy consistency, and reserve to pour over braid.

Beef Filling

1 lb. extra-lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 c. frozen mixed veggies (optional)
3 T. taco or pizza seasoning mix
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
salt and pepper

Brown ground beef and onion. Stir in veggies, seasoning mix, and 1/2 can of tomato sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Reserve the remaining tomato sauce for pouring over the braid.

Serves: 6-8

For the beef filling last night, I used frozen peas, and seasoned it with oregano instead of a seasoning mix. It was really good. I think my husband likes the turkey filling best, but they're both really good!

There is something else I do that makes this recipe easy. I use a bread maker to make my roll dough. It's an easy recipe, and you can use it for a 2-lb bread maker that has a dough setting between 75 and 90 minutes long.

Basic Breadmaker Rolls

1 1/3 c. water
1 egg
1 T. yeast
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. oil
1 t. salt
1 t. lemon juice
4 c. flour

Put all ingredients in bread maker pan in order listed. Choose correct dough setting and let it make itself!

You can use half wheat flour for this dough recipe. When I've used whole wheat flour, it's been a little too heavy for my bread maker to handle. A lot of times I put cooked, leftover 9-grain cereal in pan on top of the flour. If you do that, watch your dough to make sure the cereal doesn't make the dough too soft. If it does, you will have to add more flour.