Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Braid

Source: A combination of a few sites: here, via Pinterest, for the main idea and filling recipe and, here and here, from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, for the homemade bread recipe/use

Ingredients:

For the bread:

1 1/2 cups warm water

3/4 Tablespoon instant yeast (or 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast)

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups all-purpose flour, give or take a few tablespoons (I subbed 1 cup with whole wheat flour)

note: I've also been successful using my regular pizza dough recipe, too (it's really similar and I have it memorized)

For the filling:

2 cups chicken chunks, cooked (I had 1 1/2 cups shredded, cooked chicken in my freezer and just used that)

2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

2 cups broccoli, frozen, steamed and chopped (I used fresh - chopped it up, then popped it in the microwave with a spritz of water for a couple minutes to get it started cooking)

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

1 egg yolk

fresh rosemary (didn't have fresh, though that would be much prettier, I'm sure, so I used the dry stuff from a bottle)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F.  (400F if you're using my pizza dough recipe for the bread.)

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl by hand, combine the warm water, yeast, sugar, oil, salt and 2 cups of the flour (if you are using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast, let the yeast proof in the warm water and sugar for about 3-5 minutes until it is foamy and bubbly before adding the oil, salt and flour). Begin mixing and continue to add the rest of the flour gradually until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Judge the dough not by the amount of flour called for in the recipe but in how the dough feels (see a tutorial on working with yeast here). The dough should be soft and smooth but still slightly tacky to the touch.

Knead the dough in the stand mixer or by hand until it is very smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes in a stand mixer or 8-10 minutes by hand. Lightly spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until it has doubled (this usually takes about an hour).

While the dough rises, make the filling by combining chicken, cheese, broccoli and mayonnaise.

Roll the dough into about an 11X17-inch rectangle (Mel rolls hers out directly on a silpat liner to make for easy transfer to the baking sheet and oven, but I don't have one of those, so I just carefully lifted the large rectangle onto my cookie sheet). Spread chicken/cheese/broccoli mixture over the center of the dough evenly to create a log.  Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut 1-inch wide strips in towards the center, starting on the long sides. There should be a solid strip about 3 inches wide down the center (where the "log" of filling is), with the cut strips forming a fringe down each side.  Fold the side strips over filling, alternating strips from each side and pressing them into the dough on the opposite side, forming a braid. Pinch or twist to seal.  (Check out Mel's blog for detailed picture instructions.)

Brush the top of the braid with a beaten egg yolk and sprinkle fresh rosemary on top.  Bake for 28 – 30 minutes until golden brown.  Let the braid rest for 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut braid into sections and serve warm.

Notes:
Mel's instructions for her braid, using her bread recipe (the one I used here), said to split the dough in half and make two braids.  I thought I had too much filling to do that, so I just used the whole bread recipe for one braid.  Well, it raised a lot in the oven, and there was a lot of bread around that filling when it came out of the oven.  It was still awesomely delicious, but if you like a smaller bread-to-filling ratio, I'd suggest doing it her way.

In other news, this was awesomely delicious!  (Did I already say that?)  I've seen braids like this before, but have never been brave enough to try it.  It's really not hard at all.  And if you make it with canned crescent dough like the original recipe said, it would be so speedy.  I had time, and no canned crescents, so I went with the homemade version.  That bread recipe is a keeper, for sure!  This whole braid is - very reminiscent of broccoli cheddar soup in a bread bowl.  And also hinted of a leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwich on homemade rolls with a dab of miracle whip.  Yumminess all around.  (And it's even pretty good cold the next day!)

Update:
I've made this again a few times now, with a few new variations on filling (and I do make two braids, which I like better - not quite so much bread in each bite):

Variation #1: Ham and cheese - I made the same basic filling as above, but substituted cubed ham for the chicken and left out the broccoli (though I think it would still be awesome).  I sprinkled in a few sliced green onions for some pizzazz and it was awesome.

Variation #2: BBQ chicken - taken from Mel's Kitchen Cafe - basically BBQ sauce, shredded, cooked chicken, sliced onions, and cheese.  Mmmhmmm.

Variation #3: Reuben - inspired by RecipeGirl.  We spread some Thousand Island dressing on the dough, added a generous helping of sauerkraut (1/2 a can per braid, drained), shredded leftover corned beef from our St. Paddy's Day feast (that had been stored frozen for a while since our big meal), and topped with slices of Swiss cheese.  We used extra Thousand Island as a dipping sauce.  Gregg said this was his favorite braid by far.