Chicken and Broccoli Cobbler

Remember the other day I posted a recipe for Homemade Croutons?

Well here is an excellent way to use them!  My Chicken and Broccoli Cobbler is comfort food at it's best.  I came across this recipe in an old Southern Living magazine.  It's easy to make and good for you.  It calls for leftover chicken, which is what I used, but turkey or rotisserie chicken would work just as well.  The best part?  The sourdough croutons are the crowning glory on top of the cobbler!  I told you that sourdough croutons were my favorite...and these, boy oh boy!  Something else!


To make this even easier, grab some broccoli florets from the salad bar, or bagged in the produce section.  They work well, and there's no need to cook them as they cook to a crisp-tender in the dish.  I made individual cobblers but you can certainly make one large one.  It's all good, but I thought the individual ones were just cute!


Here's the link for the Homemade Croutons.  Make sure to try different variations.  They are yummy!


Kitchen Tip:  Use your frozen bread cubes to make the croutons.  Half the work is done and you don't have to plan for stale bread!


This dish lends itself to different variations as well.  You can change up the vegetables to create different flavors.  Try mushrooms, cauliflower, green beans, bell peppers, zucchini, summer squash, or eggplant.  Just use your favorite combinations!


Here are some step by step pics to help you along.

 

 

 

NOTE:  Make sure to come back for Southern Sundays, which returns this Sunday, June 3rd.  Hope you will all link up some great recipes.  I can't wait to see what you bring!

Chicken and Broccoli Cobbler

serves 4

1/4 cup butter, melted
5 ounces cubed sourdough bread (3 cups)
1/2 cup refrigerated grated Parmesan cheese
3 cups small broccoli florets
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup drained chopped roasted red bell pepper
1 (10-oz.) container refrigerated Alfredo sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons dry sherry

Drizzle butter over bread cubes in a large bowl; sprinkle with cheese, and toss well.

Combine broccoli and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Spoon filling into a lightly greased 2-qt. rectangular or oval baking dish or individual baking dishes; top with bread cubes.

Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 30 minutes (20 to 25 minutes for individual cobblers) or until bubbly and top is toasted.

adapted from Southern Living Magazine

Homemade Croutons

Who doesn't love a crouton?

Making homemade croutons is a great way to use bread that’s no longer fresh.  I like to make a big batch and then keep them in a airtight container.  They are good for snacking as well as great on salads.  


Simple to make, you just cube day old bread.  French bread is perfect, but you can also use a country wheat, and my favorite, sourdough.  You can then either bake them up, or place them in a freezer bag for later use.  

Kitchen Tip:  Cubed bread keeps really well in the freezer.  This allows you to bake a whole bunch or just a few at a time.  (Great time saving tip)

To bake them you just want to toss the bread crumbs with either olive oil, or melted butter.  Now comes the fun part.  You can flavor them with anything you like.  Here are a few examples:  minced garlic, Parmesan cheese, fresh herbs, spices.  Or you can use dried herbs in a pinch and create a variety of flavors.

NOTE:  Southern Sundays will return this Sunday June 3rd.  Featured recipes will also be awarded...Hope you will all join!

Homemade Croutons
3 cups cubed bread
2 T olive oil or melted butter
herbs, cheeses, or spices (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In large bowl combine bread and olive oil. Toss well to coat. If using herbs or spices sprinkle on and toss to coat.  Spread our onto a large baking sheet. Bake in oven for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring after five minutes to brown evenly. Cool completely before storing.  Keeps 1 week.

Memorial Day weekend in San Diego

Hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day weekend!

MGG and I spent the weekend away in San Diego.  A little rest was in order..

We had a wonderful time exploring different areas of the city.  The picture above is our view from lunch on Coronado Island, looking back at downtown San Diego.  Beautiful!

We started off the weekend at Powerhouse Beach in Del Mar.  Del Mar is a quaint little beach town south of Los Angeles near San Diego.  This has got to be one of the best parks I've been to.  Look at this place!  It was so wonderful hanging out here for the afternoon.  The weather was a cool 70 degrees, with a light wind.  Just perfect!

On to our hotel located on Shelter Island, which has a Marina on one side, and the Harbor shoreline on the other side.  Here's our view from our room.  Gorgeous!

A beautiful park next to the shoreline.

A view from Shelter Island looking at Coronado Island and downtown San Diego in the background.  The Naval base is visible as well.

Off to Balboa Park we went to enjoy some of the museums there.  First off was the Space and Air Museum.  Some wonderful plane there.

After that we started walking through the park and boy was it crowded!  Thinking that it was just the holiday weekend we discovered that they were having an International food festival.  Booths with food from all sorts of countries were set up and selling like crazy!  We saw food from Peru, Hungry, France, India, Pakistan, Greece, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Philippines, you name it....it was there!  So much fun!  We sampled a lot as you could believe and enjoyed comparing the different flavors from the different countries.  Would you believe that we saw at least 10 variations of Baklava??  So delishhh!  Unfortunately we didn't stop to take pics during the feast...hard to sample and snap shots...you understand.

So as this is a food blog, I can't forget to show you some luscious food....!

We had lunch yesterday on Coronado Island at the Village Pizzeria.  We sat outside and had a wonderful view of the bay and downtown San Diego in the background.  Here's a wonderful view of the aircraft carrier, Midway.

We shared a Pear and Gorgonzola Salad...I have to make this soon!  We also tried one of their famous pizzas.  Heaven!  A light and crispy crust, with a spicy sauce, and fresh toppings.  Try this restaurant out if you are ever in San Diego.

We had an excellent time in San Diego.  We'll definitely be back soon!