On the recipe she suggests using less if you don’t like the bitter taste of marmalade, but I don’t really feel like it is bitter so don’t be afraid to use it all.  The recipe I followed was also slightly different than what I watched her make on the show (I imagine it got altered a bit) and only listed 2 cups of marmalade, but on the show she says she just goes ahead and uses the two jars as it’s close.  Another difference I found when searching was the use of either just butter, just shortening, or a mix.  On the show she states that she likes the mix best so I went with that.

The muffins are nice and moist, with a great orange flavor, and have a little bit of sweetness and crunch on the top.  She uses a good deal of nutmeg in the topping, so you might consider cutting back a little if you aren’t a big fan.  She also uses salt which I found to be a great addition that sort of cuts through the sweetness a bit, but if you don’t like that sort of thing you can leave it out.  This recipe makes a lot of muffins, perfect for sharing, or just portioning out through the week for breakfast or a quick snack.  I think you can freeze them too if you like.

Good Morning Muffins

Makes : 24 muffins

Ingredients :

• 4 C. flour
• 1/2 C. sugar
• 2 T. baking powder
• 4 T. unsalted butter (cold)
• 1/4 C. shortening
• 1 1/2 – 2 C. marmalade (or 2 jars)
• 1 C. orange juice
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 3 eggs, beaten

Topping :

• 1/2 C. sugar
• 1/4 C. brown sugar
• 2 T. melted butter
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• wheat germ

Directions :

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Spray muffin pans with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients.  Using a pastry cutter or two knives cut in the butter and shortening until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl combine your wet ingredients, then gently stir into your dry ingredients.  Use very few turns of the spatula to combine it. 
4. Mix your toppings in another bowl and sprinkle a heaping tsp. over each muffin.  Also sprinkle about a 1/2 tsp. of wheat germ on each muffin.
5. Bake 20-22 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman

Anyway, this chicken salad is the perfect mix of buffalo flavor, crunch from the celery, and creaminess from the yogurt, and freshness from the herbs.  I wasn’t sure about using greek yogurt at first, but it has that little bit of a tang that really goes well with this, and it’s much healthier than using something like ranch dressing.  I also have a bit of an aversion to blue cheese so I substituted out feta instead which worked well.  I did end up using about 3 stalks of celery because I wasn’t sure if my chicken produced quite 4 cups of meat and I didn’t want it to be too saucy, but I think with an ingredient like that it’s really fine to just use however much you want.  I actually don’t like celery on it’s own, but even I can’t deny it goes so well with buffalo sauce.  I served this on some asiago cheese rolls and it was simply fantastic, and it makes a good amount so I had it for lunch for days afterwards too.

Buffalo Chicken Salad with Greek Yogurt

Serves : I think I got about 7-8 sandwiches out of it

Ingredients :

• 1/2 cup non-fat plain greek yogurt (I used chiobani)
• 1/2 cup Franks Red Hot Wings Buffalo sauce
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
• 4 cups of cubed, cooked chicken (about 1 rotisserie chicken)
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro, minced
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• rolls or wraps for serving

Directions :

1. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl and give them a whisk.  Then fold in the chicken, celery, cilantro, and blue cheese.  Serve on rolls, in wraps, or however you like.

Recipe from The Novice Chef

However, we did both try it.  I thought it was great, and full of flavor.  He hesitantly admitted that he also thought it was pretty good.  I ended up eating it the next day for lunch and WOW!  It was even better, as the flavors had plenty of time to marry over night.  This could seriously become one of my new favorite things to make because you can make it ahead, and eat it for days.  I also think it would be the perfect thing for a potluck or dinner party, but I would suggest maybe making it the day before just so it can get better like mine did.

I really didn’t change anything in the recipe, but I may have used a little more garlic than was called for.  I also didn’t have fresh rosemary so used dried.  I eye balled most of the ingredients so I may have been a bit generous with some of them, but that’s what I like about dishes like these.  You really can’t go wrong.  I especially loved the dressing for this.  This is not one to pass up!

Greek Chickpea Salad

Makes 2 lunches or 6 smaller side dish servings.

Ingredients :

• 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup cucumber, chopped
• 1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped (I used grape tomatoes and squeezed out the seeds)
• 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup kalamata olives, sliced
• 3 – 4 T. olive oil (I think I used 3)
• juice of 1 lemon (I threw in the zest as well)
• 1/2 tsp. garlic paste (I made a paste with about 3-4 cloves and a little coarse salt)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp. rosemary, finely minced and to taste)
• feta cheese (optional)

Directions :

1. In a medium sized bowl, toss together the chickpeas, cucumber, tomato, red onion, parsley, and kalamata olives,  In a separate bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic paste, salt, pepper and rosemary.  Taste the dressing and correct your seasonings.  Be aware that fresh rosemary can easily overpower a dish.  Add the dressing to the garbanzo mixture.  Mix lightly.  Top with optional feta cheese.

Recipe from Feral Kitchen

I have always loved the combination of spinach and mushroom, and these are no exception.  I was intrigued by the use of cottage cheese, when most recipes would use ricotta, because it reminded me of my mom’s lasagna in which she also used cottage cheese.  The one thing I knew I wouldn’t be on board with was the use of fennel seed, which I just hate.  I decided just to omit that entirely and throw in some things like basil, parsley, and oregano which turned out nicely.

The filling makes quite a lot, more than enough for 8 oz of pasta.  I just went ahead and prepared the whole 12 oz box of shells and though I had some left over it wasn’t hard to find someone to gobble them up lol.  The recipe does call for white mushrooms, but I just love the more earthy flavor of the crimini so went with those.  This recipe also calls for frozen spinach out of convenience I imagine, but I am sure you could use fresh too if you wanted.

On a side note, I apologize for not posting as many recipes lately.  I have just been a bit busy at home, we’ve gone through a lot of illness this year, and we’ve been eating out or repeating meals more lately as well.  I have a few planned to make soon, so hopefully it won’t be as long before the next recipe is posted.  Thanks for your patience!

Mushroom – Spinach Stuffed Shells

Ingredients :

• Kosher salt
• 8 oz. jumbo shells
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• 1 (10 oz) package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 1/2 C. low fat cottage cheese
• 1 C. mozzarella, shredded
• 1/3 C. parmesan, grated
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1/4 C. fresh basil, chopped

Tomato Sauce Ingredients :

• 2 T. olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds (see note above)
• lg. pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 (28 oz) can tomatoes, crushed by hand
• kosher salt

Cheese Sauce Ingredients :

• 1/4 C. low fat cottage cheese
• 1/4 C. mozzarella, shredded
• 2 T. parmesan, grated
• 1 egg, slightly beaten

Directions :

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta shells and cook until slightly softened but still firm, about 7 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drizzle with olive oil and toss; set aside.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms and cook, undisturbed, until golden in spots, about 2 minutes. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are soft, about 5 more minutes. Add the spinach and stir until heated through, about 2 minutes. Let cool completely.
3. Finely chop the spinach-mushroom mixture and combine in a bowl with the cottage cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, egg, basil and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stuff each shell with about 2 tablespoons of the filling; set aside.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
5. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, fennel seeds and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until lightly golden, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, then rinse out the can with 1 cup water and add to the skillet; add 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. Return to the skillet and rinse out the blender.
   
6. Combine the cottage cheese, mozzarella, parmesan and egg in the blender and puree until smooth.
7. Brush a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with olive oil and pour in half of the tomato sauce. Add the stuffed shells, then top with the remaining tomato sauce. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 25 minutes; uncover and continue baking until bubbly, 15 to 20 more minutes. Turn on the broiler; drizzle the shells with the cheese sauce and broil, about 2 minutes.

Recipe from Full Fork Ahead

I decided to go with a pretty basic recipe, though I found others that seemed a little more complex and I am sure great.  I think my mom liked hers on a dark rye, but I couldn’t for the life of me find any at the store, so went with a Russian Rye instead.  I can see why my mom liked them, though I felt this particular version could have used a good deal more cheese.  It is a melt after all and I do love my cheese!  I liked the nice buttery golden bread though and the juicy burger and caramelized onions between.  I think I may try some of the variations out there because it was such a simple yet satisfying sandwich.

Patty Melt

Serves : 2

Ingredients :

• 8 oz. ground beef
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 4 slices rye bread
• 4 slices swiss cheese
• 2 T. canola oil
• 2 T. butter, room temperature (or warmed slightly in the microwave if you forgot to take it out like me)
• salt and black pepper to taste

Directions :

1. Divide the meat into two balls. Form each one into a 1/4-inch patty that is just slightly larger than the slices of bread. Season each patty generously with salt and pepper.
2. Pour 1 tablespoon of the oil into a small skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until browned, about 10 minutes or so. Set aside.
3. Heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat. Pour in the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. When it’s hot, add the burger patties. Cook for about 2 minutes per side. They should be well browned, but still slightly medium or medium-rare inside. Set aside.
4. Top two of the slices of bread each with some onions, a slice of cheese, cooked patty, another slice of cheese and finally a slice of bread. Slather each sandwich on top and bottom with the butter.
5. Wipe out the skillet. Then turn the heat to medium. Add the sandwiches. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes a side, or until the bread is golden browned and the cheese has melted.Slice in half diagonally and serve.

Recipe from Dishing Up Delights

Ok, now to tonight’s pizza.  It was good, but both my husband and I kind of felt like it was lacking in flavor.  I wanted to stay true to the recipe and give it a shot, but I think if I made it again I would go with my gut and throw some whole cloves on it as well.  I also think something like some olives, or maybe kalamata olives would go a long way to kick up the flavor a bit.  I also think I would throw a little Provolone or maybe Asiago on it as well to just give it more complexity of flavor.  It is a good starting point though for sure.

For the pizza dough you could certainly use store bought, either already prepared or in dough form.  If you have the time though (and you could even make this ahead of time, freeze it, and pull it out the morning you want to use it) I strongly suggest making your own, and more specifically Emeril’s recipe which I shared here for the Stromboli recipe.  Seriously great dough, and awesome to work with.

Roasted Garlic Chicken & Herb White Pizza

Ingredients :

• 1 lb pizza dough
• 8 cloves roasted garlic, minced (make ahead)
• 2 T. butter
• 2 T. flour
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, shredded (I used rotisserie)
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 3/4 cups Mozzarella cheese
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 T. fresh parsley, chopped

Directions :

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with a siplat liner, or grease and sprinkle with cornmeal.  (I use a pizza stone, and with the dough recipe I shared I have found no need for corn meal on the bottom).
2. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Saute roasted garlic for 1 minute.
3. Add flour, and mix until well blended. Cook for 1 minute.
4. Slowly whisk in the milk and half and half. Mix in the pepper.
5. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat, and stir in Parmesan cheese.
6. Spread dough into roughly a 12 inch circle on prepared baking sheet. Spread white cause over the dough. Top with chicken, red onions and cheese.
7. Bake for 17 minutes, or until the crust is golden, and the cheese is melted.
8. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with herbs. Cut and serve immediately.

Recipe from Dinners Dishes & Desserts

I have had Orange Chicken numerous times over the years, and it’s always different wherever you go.  Years later I still remember the delicious chicken balls with orange sauce we had while staying in Toronto.  That is my idea of orange chicken…. but on the occasion when I am really in a hurry I’ll pick some up from somewhere like Panda Express and I am always left disappointed by their idea of orange chicken.  For starters it’s nothing like the image they have up, and comes out looking more like general tso than anything orange infused.  Then there is NO orange flavor whatsoever.  I honestly don’t know why they call it orange chicken.  It’s not terrible food, but it’s not orange chicken either.

This, however, does have a lot of orange flavor.  There is a great complexity from all the sauce ingredients, with a bit of heat, sweetness, salty, and citrus.  Though time consuming, making your own fried chicken results in a much tastier, less greasy, end result.  I liked that the chicken was so freshly tossed with the sauce that it retained a lot of the crunch from the breading and the amount of sauce left over was the perfect amount to mix in with the rice.  I made two packets of boil-in-a-bag brown rice which left us with a little more than we needed, but one would have been not enough.  When frying the chicken I used vegetable shortening (the Crisco one in a can) which was something I had never done before but wanted to try.  It worked really well and from what I hear gives it a better flavor.  I don’t have a thermometer that monitors temperatures that high, so I just kept a close eye on things to make sure it wasn’t too hot.  I suggest using a thermometer if you can though.  You don’t want to have your oil too low and end up with oily chicken, or too high and end up with burned outsides and raw insides or a house full of smoke or a fire lol.  I also used my dutch oven to fry in because I like having the taller sides to avoid the mess.

I admit my kitchen was in a state of utter disaster after dinner last night, but it was definitely worth it!

Chinese Orange Chicken

serves : 4

Ingredients :

• 1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
• 1 T. orange zest
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 tsp. dried ginger (I used a bit of fresh ginger paste)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. sriracha hot sauce
• 2 T. grated yellow onion
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1 1/4 cups + 2 T. cornstarch, divided
• 2 T. cold water
• 2 large eggs
• vegetable or peanut oil for frying
• green onions and sesame seeds for garnish

Directions :

1. Place chicken pieces in a gallon size resealable bag, set aside. In a medium saucepan combine chicken broth, orange zest, orange juice, vinegar, soy sauce, granulated sugar, ginger, yellow onion, garlic, Sriracha and pepper. Whisk mixture well, then measure out 2/3 cup of the mixture and pour it over the chicken in resealable bag. Seal bag while pressing excess air out, and press chicken into marinade. Place bag in a bowl or baking dish and refrigerate 30 minutes. Meanwhile, return remaining sauce mixture over medium heat and bring mixture just to a boil, stirring frequently. In a small bowl whisk together 2 Tbsp cornstarch with 2 Tbsp water then stir mixture into sauce. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 1 – 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly, until thickened, remove from heat.
2. Pour vegetable oil into a large cast iron dutch oven, filling pot about 1 1/2 – 2-inches deep and heat oil to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, whisk eggs in a shallow dish until well blended. Pour remaining 1 1/4 cups cornstarch into a separate shallow dish. Remove chicken from refrigerator and drain and discard marinade from chicken.
3. Dip chicken pieces into egg followed by cornstarch and toss pieces to evenly coat in cornstarch, then carefully place 1/3 of the chicken pieces into preheated oil and cook for 5 – 7 minutes until golden, turning once during cooking. Using skimmer, remove fried chicken from oil and transfer to a paper towel lined cookie sheet to drain excess oil. Repeat process with remaining chicken working in two more batches.
4. Pour drained fried chicken into a bowl and toss with sauce. Serve warm over white or brown rice garnished with green onions and sesame seeds if desired.

Recipe from Cooking Classy

While trying to get my husband’s opinion on the dish for this blog, as I often try to do because I feel like he is a “meat and potatoes” kind of guy and therefore harder to please when it comes to trying new things, I was given a rating of 8 out of 10.  When I asked him to elaborate on that, he simply said “the tomatoes weren’t terrible”.  Not exactly helpful if you ask me… I mentioned such to him and that my readers are not going to want to try a dish that is described as being “not terrible”.  He said that if someone like himself, who hates tomatoes, would say the dish was an 8 and that he liked it in spite of the tomatoes that it must be good.  So there you have it… the tomatoes aren’t terrible.

I, on the other hand, and I might add I also don’t like large pieces of tomato, thought they were not only “not terrible” but that they were a key ingredient in the dish, and part of what makes it so fantastic.  All the freshness added by the tomatoes, onions, peas, and parsley give this a light feeling not typical of most pasta dishes. This is also true because of the orzo, which is a small pasta, but seems a lot like rice in shape and texture.  The orzo is perfect for this because it gives it a risotto feel and leave it so creamy in texture with the Asiago.  The only change I made to this recipe was to pre-cook my chicken.  I did this mostly because it had been in my fridge for a few too many days and I was nervous to leave it in there a couple more until I was ready to cook it.  As often happens, I took my meat out with specific dates in mind, but plans changed, and things got pushed back a couple days.  Rather than waste the meat I just cooked the chicken with a little salt and pepper in the skillet and put it back in the fridge.  I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about boiling the chicken for so little time in this recipe (and especially now because my orzo only took 9 minutes to cook) from a raw state, and it being done properly.  So even when I make this next… and there will be a next time…. I will pre-cook the chicken as I did this time.  For the wine I again used the Moscato I had opened the night before and it worked very well for this….. and was also quite enjoyed straight from the bottle as I was cooking… shhh!  Good thing I was only cooking for my husband and I lol.

Anyway, I highly recommend EVERYONE try this recipe.

Orzo Chicken Asiago

Serves : 4

Ingredients :

• 1 lb chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces (see above, I pre-cooked mine)
• 1 1/4 cups uncooked Orzo
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. rosemary
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
• 1 cup fresh diced tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes)
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup fresh grated Asiago cheese
• parsley

Directions :

1. Do your prep work ahead of time so you can keep your attention on the pasta, and stirring it.  You also don’t want to over cook your pasta into mush!
2. In a dutch oven combine broth and white wine.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and orzo.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 9-12 minutes or until pasta is done, but still a bit al dente.  Mine took about 9 minutes.  Stir frequently the entire time.  About halfway through cook time add your dry herbs, salt and pepper.
3. In the last minute add the tomatoes and green onions. 
4. Remove from heat, add in the frozen peas and stir around to help cook the pasta.  Add in your cheese and parsley and serve.

Recipe from citronlimette

I used an extra large grapefruit and ended up with a little more than half a cup of juice from half of it so I just threw it all in.  I used the other half to make my garnishes.  The dish came together very easily, and quickly.  I chose to serve mine over some wide flat noodles which was the perfect thing for all the sauce.  The recipe calls for white wine, and I have to admit I sort of hate when a recipe leaves it so general like that…. there are after all many varieties of white wine to choose from with quite differing flavors.  I decided to keep it fruity and went with a moscato.  I figured that was a wine I would most like to drink with my meal so I could kill two birds with one stone.  I don’t pretend to know that much about wine, so perhaps my choice wasn’t the optimal one, but it worked well for me.

My husband was really worried about dinner tonight when I told him I was making grapefruit chicken, since he claims to hate grapefruit.  But he’s pretty good about trying anything I put in front of him and his verdict was that this was a 7 out of 10.  Not bad for someone who claims to hate grapefruit!

Pan-Seared Chicken with Pink Grapefruit Cream Sauce

Serves : 4

Ingredients :

• 4 chicken breasts, or 2 larger breasts cut into halves (butterfly style)
• salt
• 4 T. unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice
• 1 T. pink grapefruit zest
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup white wine (I used a Moscato)
• 2 T. cream cheese
• 1/4 tsp. ground white pepper
• 1/4 tsp. sugar
• more salt to taste

Directions :

1. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Season both sides of your chicken breasts with salt and place in hot skillet.  Brown both sides (about 3-4 minutes per side).  Add grapefruit juice and zest, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook about 10 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked through.  Transfer chicken to a dish, cover with foil, and place in a warm oven until ready to serve.
2. To the skillet add your cream, wine, cream cheese, pepper, and sugar.  Whisk until smooth and bring to a boil.   Boil for about 3-4 minutes or until sauce has slightly thickened.  Add salt to taste if necessary (I didn’t need any at this step)
3. Serve by spooning sauce over chicken on individual plates or on a warmed platter.  Garnish with some grapefruit slices and parsley.  Suggested to serve this with pasta.

Recipe from The Daring Gourmet

The bread did not burn as I feared it would at that temperature for that long, though the ends did get pretty crusty since it was already a crusty piece of bread.  The broccoli sort of steamed in the bread leaving it moist and keeping the bread soft inside which was a nice contrast to the crusty outsides.  The eggs on the ends did cook more fully and the yolks, while not unpleasant, were solid.  I chose to make one large roll rather than cutting them into individuals prior to cooking so the two inside eggs didn’t turn completely solid like the two outside ones.  They were fully cooked, but the yolks took on a thick creamy sauce-like texture that really took this to the next level.  I would suggest cutting your bread before hand to ensure even cooking, and also to dispose of the very ends of the bread as they get a bit too hard.

The recipe was kind of general on some things… such as using a “sourdough sandwich roll” and how to stuff the ingredients inside.  I bought one of those really large sourdough loaves, and rather than cut it in half like you would if you were making a sandwich roll I just took enough off the top of the roll to level it off and make the entire thing crust-less on the top.  I wanted to make sure it was deep enough for stuffing and that worked out well.  One tip I have would be to not only make your holes big enough to accommodate an egg and some cheese and broccoli, but when putting the eggs on top do it very slowly and sort of stretch the holes a little with your fingers to allow the egg to settle into the bread rather than sit on top, or in the case of one of mine spill off the side!  The recipe called for mozzarella but I found I was out when I went to grab some and so I just used some pepper jack instead.  I am sure you could use whatever cheese you like though.  Same thing with the seasonings… the recipe mentioned chili powder in the list of ingredients, but then it wasn’t mentioned in the steps so I left it off not really thinking I wanted any on and it was good with just salt and pepper.

There are probably many ways you can alter this to suit your tastes, or improve on it, but the basic idea is definitely simple and also a little bit fun.  Perhaps some fresh herbs on top, or bacon crumbles.  Throw some ham inside.  Kick it up with a little hot sauce.  The sky is the limit.  All you have to do is put those doubts aside and trust that it will work!  As I mentioned the recipe I followed was little unclear on a couple of things so I am going to just elaborate on the recipe below to include the steps I took.

Eggs Baked In Bread

serves : 2-4

Ingredients :

• 1 large sourdough loaf (unsliced)
• 1/2-3/4 cup broccoli florets (make them on the small side)
• 1/4-1/3 cup mozzarella, shredded
• 4 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh Parmesan, grated

Directions :

1. Preheat oven to 350 F., and line a baking sheet with foil. 
2. Slice just enough off the top of the roll to leave a leveled crust-less top on your bread.  Make 4 holes across evenly spaced, digging out some of the bread.  There should be enough room for a little bit of broccoli, cheese and an egg in each hole. 
3. Start by putting some of your broccoli into the bottom of each of those 4 holes, then stud the bread all around the holes by poking the broccoli into it.  Next put cheese into the holes over the broccoli, but leave room for the eggs.
4. Carefully crack an egg over each of the 4 holes, going slowly, and taking time to stretch the holes a bit to settle the egg into the bread without breaking the yolks.  Season to top with salt and pepper, sprinkle with Parmesan, and bake about 20-25 minutes or until eggs are set and bread is toasted. 
5. **** Alternately, cut your roll into halves or fourths before stuffing them and arrange side by side to ensure more even cooking.  See notes above regarding the outer yolks cooking through more than the inside ones when left as one long roll.

Recipe from Divine Cusine Viva la Food!