Although, I’ll be honest, I did totally screw up one thing, but if anyone is able to notice it, I’ll be shocked.  The recipe calls for 2 packages of refrigerated French bread dough (and the only place I found it was in the Pillsbury section) to make the twists, but I only ended up using one.  I misread the second direction and for some reason it didn’t dawn on me that I was suppose to be cutting two loaves slightly in half and not one loaf completely in half.  Either way, it turned out fine.  It might not be as bready as it was suppose to be, but I think it turned out rather well.

Jesse and I did try a piece tonight (since it was smelling really good) and it was good.  It was a bit salty for me, but that’s mainly the Pillbury dough.  A lot of their dough is salty and if I could find a different French dough mix, I would probably try that instead of going back to Pillsbury.  I do NOT know how it would turn out if I made the dough from scratch, so if anyone tries, let me know.

I did do one other change.  Quite a few of Jesse’s coworkers are vegetarians and I don’t always think of that when I send something in.  So this time, I made two of these puppies, but the second one, I substituted broccoli florets for the chicken.  I haven’t tasted that one, so I’m not sure how it came out, but the mixture really didn’t look any different than the chicken mixture.  So I’m thinking it was a success.

The one thing I would recommend, I used my small scoop to spoon the mixture on the dough and it worked really well.  It made it very easy to ensure that each half ended up with the same amount and I was still able to get all the sides closed up.

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup snipped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp (1-1/2oz) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 cup (2oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 pkgs (11oz) Pillsbury refrigerated French bread dough
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tsp Italian seasoning mix

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Chop chicken using Food Chopper. Dice bell pepper using Chef’s Knife. Snip basil using Kitchen Shears. In Classic Batter Bowl, combine chicken, bell pepper, basil, ¼ cup of the Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, mayonnaise and garlic pressed with Garlic Press; mix well.
2. Place bread dough, seam sides up, on smooth side of Large Grooved Cutting Board. Using Serrated Bread Knife, slice each loaf lengthwise, end to end, cutting halfway through to center of loaf; spread open flat. Lightly sprinkle flour evenly over dough. Using Baker’s Roller, roll dough crosswise to a 4-inch width, creating a well down center of each loaf.
3. Spoon half of the chicken mixture down center of each loaf. Gather up edges over filling, pinching firmly to seal. Place loaves, seam sides down, in an “X” pattern on Rectangle Stone. Crisscross ends of dough to form a large figure “8”, keeping ends of dough 1 inch from edge of stone and leaving two 1-1/2 inch openings in center of twist.
4. Combine egg white and seasoning mix; lightly brush over dough. Cut a 3-inch slit in each of the top sections of the twist to reveal filling. Sprinkle remaining 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese over loaf. Bake 30-32 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes.

Yield: 8 servings

Nutrients per serving: Calories 300, Total Fat 10g, Saturated Fat 3g, Cholesterol 20mg, Carbohydrate 38g, Protein 15g, Sodium 650mg, Fiber 0g
U.S. Diabetic exchanges per serving: 2½ starch, 1 meat, ½ fat (2½ carb)

Variation: Pepperoni Pizza Twist – for filling, combine 1 pkg diced pepperoni slices, 1 can pitted ripe olives (drained and chopped), ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese, 2 tbsp snipped fresh parsley, 2 tbsp all-purpose flour and 1 pressed garlic clove. Continue as recipe directs in Steps 2 through 4. Sprinkle the loaf with 2 tbsp grated fresh Parmesan cheese before baking.

The first change I made was changed the amount of dill used.  The original recipe calls for 2 tsp of the Pampered Chef’s Pantry Dill Mix, but that was really over powering for us (although his co-workers said it was great cold, so maybe it’s only overpowering when its warm).  I also changed the salt content from 1/4 tsp to just a dash since Jesse is having an issue with his cholesterol right now.

The first time, I also did it as a braid and I want to say it came out looking a lot better as a ring.  You can also do it as a wreath which looks a little like the braid, but looks a lot easier to do.  I’ll include the directions for the braid and a wreath at the bottom.

As I starting thinking about writing this recipe up, I realized that I had sent it in with Jesse without one of the ingredients.  There is suppose to be a cup of shredded cheddar cheese with the mixture, but it didn’t look odd without it.  This is giving me the idea that this recipe could easily be changed to meet someone’s needs.  For instance, this could totally be done as a vegetarian.  Take out the meet and add a couple more veggies – i.e. carrots, celery, onions, green peppers, etc.  You could also probably change out the chicken for tuna or beef.  This would also be a great way to do an egg casserole for those early morning get togethers.

From what I’ve been hearing from Jesse’s co-workers, it sounds like this came out really well.  But, I don’t want to put words into anyone’s mouths, so I’ll wait and see if anyone says anything.

Ingredients:
2 pkg (8oz) refrigerated crescent rolls
2 cups coarsely chopped cooked chicken
1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped broccoli
1 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Dill mix or dried dill weed
dash tsp salt
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/4 cup slivered almonds

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In Classic Batter Bowl, combine chicken, broccoli, cheese, bell pepper, mayonnaise, seasoning mix, salt and garlic; mix well.
2. Unroll crescent rolls and separate into 16 triangles.  Arrange triangles, slightly overlapping, in a circle on a Large Round Stone with wide ends 4 inches from the edge of baking stone.  Points will extend off the edge of the baking stone.  Roll wide ends of dough toward center to create a 5-inch opening.
3. Using the Large Scoop, scoop filling evenly over dough in a continuous circle.  Bring points of triangles up over filling and tuck under dough at center to form a ring – the filling will show.  Brush with egg white.  Sprinkle with almonds.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield: 8 servings

Nutritional Information: Calories 440; Total Fat 29g; Saturated Fat 8g; Cholesterol 50mg; Carbohydrate 25g; Protein 19g; Sodium 700mg; Fiber less than 1g
Diabetic exchanges per serving: 1 starch; 2-1/2 meat; 3 fat; 2 vegetable (1 carb)

Variation:
The Wreath

1. Unroll 2 packages of refrigerated crescent rolls; separate into 16 triangles.  Arrange eight triangles in a circle on a large round stone with wide ends 3 inches from edge of baking stone and points towards the outside.  Points will extend off the edge of the baking stone.  Arrange remaining triangles in center of baking stone, matching wide ends with triangles already in place.  Points will overlap in the center.
2. Using the baker’s roller, roll over seams of triangles where wide ends meet, creating a smooth surface for filling.  Do not seal center triangles.  Using a large scoop, scoop filling evenly over dough in a continuous circle.
3. Beginning with the last triangle placed in center of the baking stone, bring point of triangle straight across filling.  Next bring point of opposite outside triangle diagonally across filling, covering point of previous triangle.  Filling will show.  Repeat, overlapping points of inside and outside triangles to form a wreath.  Tuck the last end under the first.

The Braid

1. Unroll 2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls; do not separate.  Arrange dough on a rectable stone with longest sides of rectangles across width of baking stone.  Roll dough to seal seams.
2. Starting on the longest sides of the baking stone, cut sides of dough into eight strips, about 1-1/2 inches wide and 3 inches long.  Using a large scoop, scoop filling evenly over center of dough.
3. Starting at one end, lift one strip of dough; twist one turn and lay across top of filling.  Repeat, alternating strips of dough to form a braid.  Fold bottom edges of dough up at ends of braid. 
   

Jesse is always looking for an orange recipe and this one sounds tempting.  I may have to try this with chicken, if I don’t try it with pheasant first.

Ingredients:
2 skinless pheasant breast fillets
2 tbsp butter
4 tsp flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup orange juice (1 orange freshly squeezed)
2 tbsp orange marmalade
3/4 tsp chicken bouillon cube or paste
1 tbsp orange liqueur (optional)
1/2 cup green seedless grapes
2 oranges, peeled and sectioned
1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Line an 8x8x2-inch baking pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil, leaving a 1-1/2 inch foil flap or cllar sticking out on all sides. Place pheasant fillets in a single layer in pan.
3. Melt butter in a suacepan. Stir in flour and cinnamon until smooth. Blend in orange juice, marmalade and bouillon. Bring to a boil, stirring until thickened. Stir in the liqueur. Spoon the sauce over pheasant.
4. Tear off a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil 11 inches long. Cover the baking pan with this piece, pressing foil down on top of pheasant (leave a little extra room for heat expansion). Work around the pan, folding top sheet together with collar from lower sheet to make a tight seal.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until meat is tender. Remove top sheet, spoon grapes and orange sections over pheasant and bake, uncovered, for another 5 minutes, or until fruit is heated through. Garnish with almonds and serve over hot rice, if desired.

Ingredients:
1 pheasant, deboned
1 pkg (8oz) mixed vegetables
2 cans (10-3/4oz) cream of potato soup
pepper to taste

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on High for 4 hours. Serve over fresh-baked biscuits.

This one actually sounds good and easy to make if you want to take the time.

Ingredients:
1 pheasant, breast and legs
2 cans (14.5oz) Del Monte diced tomatoes (Basil, Garlic & Oregano)
2 pkgs. Knorr Parma Rosa Pasta Sauces (creamy tomato sauce mix)
2 cups white zinfandel
1 pkg (8oz) linguine
1 cup shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Defrost pheasant, if frozen. Place pheasant meat in pot of boiling water. Boil meat for 10 to 15 minutes (cooking times vary depending on the size of the pheasant). Remove pot from heat. Remove meat from bone. Shred and/or dice meat.
2. In large saucepan, combine cooked, shredded pheasant, diced tomatoes, pasta sauce mix and white zinfandel. Stir ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Prepare linguine according to package directions. Place linguine on plate, top with sauce, add shredded cheese.

Ingredients:
4 cups cooked wild rice
2 lbs chopped venison
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 can (10-3/4oz) cream of celery soup
1/2 cup beef broth
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp sage

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 250 degrees F. Layer cooked rice in buttered 3 qt casserole.
2. Sauté venison, celery and onion in oil, browning meat well.
3. Blend the soup with beef broth, garlic salt and sage. Stir soup mixture into sautéed venison and vegetables. Spoon on top of wild rice and bake, covered, for 45 minutes.

I love cooking with fresh veggies – they look so vibrant on the dinner plate compared to frozen – so I’m always excited to find recipes that allow me to hit the produce section more often.  That’s actually one of the best parts about this recipe.  I either had everything on hand or once I bought it, it would be ready to use again and again.  The only things I will have to buy before making this are the veggies and the meat.  Seriously, this meal probably only cost me $10 to make and I’m going to have enough for lunch for the boys tomorrow.  Granted, once I run out of the staples (soy sauce, gingerroot, cornstarch, etc), it’ll cost me a little more at the store, but it’s a 1 out of how many times?

Plus, I could so do this with chicken, pork, seafood (if Jesse would let me).  The possibilities of mixing the veggies and meat around with this recipe are going to be so much fun to explore.  We’ve been looking for another recipe to have that’s easy to make AND healthy and I think we found it.

Now I did change a few things, but mainly because of our personal preferences.  I didn’t add a whole onion and red bell pepper.  I’m not a fan of either (I don’t mind the flavor of onion, but I dislike biting into them), so I only added half.  Actually, other than those two things, I didn’t change anything else about this.  Now the spice did catch Jesse by surprise, so the red pepper flakes do give it a kick, but it didn’t bother me too much and I really don’t have that high of a tolerance anymore.  I just don’t think Jesse was expecting it.

I made this with rice, but you could easily substitute egg noodles for the rice as well.  Which gives me an idea of what to do with the egg noodles that have been sitting up in my cabinets.

My only advice, skip the sauce portion.  When you take the stir-fry from the pan at the end (and put it in some kind of serving dish), use a slotted spoon.  The sauce has the majority of the kick and both of us really didn’t see a need for it.  The veggies and meat were fabulous over the rice and we really didn’t see a need for anything else.

Oh!  I did add one thing.  I julienne’d some carrots and added that to the stir-fry at the end.  Cooked carrots may be cooked, but they are better raw in a stir-fry in my opinion.  I simplied mixed them in after removing the veggies and meat from the skillet.  They added a bright color to the mix and added some crunch.

This recipe was good.  I’m already looking forward to making it again.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 boneless beef top sirloin steak
3 cups broccoli florets
1 medium onion
1 medium red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tsp peeled, finely chopped fresh gingerroot
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup beef broth
rice, cooked

Directions:

1. Whisk together soy sauce, cornstarch and 1 tbsp of the oil in a bowl. Cut beef in half lengthwise and then crosswise into 1/4-inch thick strips. Add beef to soy sauce mixture; toss to coat. Cut broccoli florets in half and onion into thin wedges. Cut bell pepper into 2-in strips; set vegetables aside. Press garlic.
2. Heat 1 tsp of the oil in stir-fry skillet over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Add half eac hof the beef, garlic, ginger and pepper flakes to skillet. Using a spatula, stir-fry 1-2 minutes or until outsides surfaces of beef are no longer pink. Do not overcook. Remove from skillet; keep warm. Repeat with 1 tsp of the oil and remaining beef, garlic, ginger and pepper flakes. Remove from skillet.
3. Add remaining 1 tsp oil to skiller. Add vegetables; stir-fry 3-4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Return beef mixture to skillet; add broth and bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute or until sauce is slightly thickened, stirring gently.

Yield: 4 servings

Nutritional Information: Calories 280; Total Fat 12g; Saturated Fat 2.5g; Cholesterol 45mg; Carbohydrate 11g; Protein 32g; Sodium 790mg; Fiber 3g
US Diabetic exchanges per serving: 2 vegetable, 4 low-fat meat (0 carb)

Mmm….I recently posted a Duck or Goose Burger recipe and then I came across this one.  Has  potential.  This one doesn’t say to grill it, but I’m sure you can.

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped, cooked pheasant
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tbsp finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2/3 cup sliced celery
Bread or cracker crumbs
1 tbsp melted butter

Directions:
Mix all ingredients except crumbs and melted butter. Chill. Shape into six patties; roll in crumbs. Melt butter in skillet at low heat. Brown patties for about 10 minutes. Serve on a bun with your favorite toppings.

I’m actually wondering if this would be good for pheasant as well.

Ingredients:
1 whole duck or goose breast, uncooked and finely chopped or ground.
2 to 4 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
1 large spanish onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
6 kaiser buns, toasted

Directions:
Combine meat, jalapenos, onions, garlic and cilantro. Divide into six patties. Refrigerate, covered, for 4 hours. Grill patties on hot grill to desired doneness.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup oil
2 pheasant breasts
1/4 cup milk or 1 beaten egg
1/2 cup all-purpose seasoning flour.

Directions:

1. Put oil in fry pan and heat.
2. Dip breasts in milk or egg, roll in seasoning flour, and fry until brown.
3. Heat through and serve over brown rice made according to package directions.

Yields: 4

Tips: This recipe does come with directions for a gravy, but I had no clue what Kitchen Bouquet was, so I didn’t include it. If you do, here are the supplemental directions. Mix together 1 cup water, 1/2 cup plum water, 2 tbsp Kitchen Bouquet, and 1 can (8oz) mushrooms, drained. Heat throughly.

In the directions for the pheasants, it does say to use the juice from the drained mushrooms to the fry pan an them steam the breasts until done. This gives you the liquid for the gravy. Again, I have no clue what Kitchen bouquet is, so if anyone does, I would like to know.