Bread Bowls

The rainy weather (and fasting) gave me a hankering for some chowder. I found a yummy looking recipe(see below)and decided that it would be good with bread bowls. So I went searching for a simple recipe. My mother-in-law pointed me at allrecipes.com. I remember her one time saying the best way to know if a recipe was good on that sight was if it had at least 4 stars and A LOT of people gave it that rating. The recipe I found had 4 1/2 stars and had 211 reviews. I figured that meant it would be good. It was! The kids liked the chowder, but not in their bread bowls. They just ate their bread bowls plain and their chowder in a regular bowl.

Chicken-Cheese Chowder
(I got this recipe from Once-A-Month Cooking Family Favorites. It's a book I disovered when visiting friends in Colorado.)
1 c. shredded carrot
1/4 c. chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 c. flour
2 c. chicken broth
1 c. shredded chicken
1 4oz. can mushroom pieces and stems (I omitted this--YUCK!)
3 tablespoons dry white wine (optional)
1 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
2 c. milk

In large skillet, saute the carrots and onion in the butter until tender. Blend in flour; add the broth. Cook and stir until thickened. (I moved it to a pot after adding the flour). Stir in the chicken, mushrooms, wine, celery salt, and Worcestershire sauce. heat through. Add the mild and cheese, and heat well; do not boil. Serves 4. (It served Jonathan and I big servings and the kids small servings and there was a leftover big serving for Jonathan to take to work).

Italian Bread Bowls
2 packages dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
2 1/2 c. warm water
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
7 cups flour

1 tablespoon cornmeal (I was out of this so I skipped that step)
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

1. In mixer, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes. (I let my mixer do that part--I let it mix for about 6 minutes). Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to cat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm lace until double in volume, about 40 minutes.
4. Punch dough down, and divide into 8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a 4 inch round loaf. Place loves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes. (Next time I'm going to do 2-3 big ones and dived the rest into small ones. They were too much for the kids to handle.)
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl beat together egg white and 1 tablespoon water; lightly brush the loaves with half of this wash.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. brush with remaining egg mixture and bake 10-15 minutes more or until golden. Cool on wire racks. (Mine fit on 2 cookie sheets. When I pulled them out half way I switched the racks that they were on.)
7. To make bowls: cut a 1/2 inch thick slice from top of each loaf; scoop out centers, leaving 3/4 inch thick shells. Fill brad bowls with hot sop and serve immediately.

Here's a picture of Dyllan holding her bread bowl. This might give you an idea of how big they are.