Braided Bread with Filling

I really like this recipe mainly because its quick, looks impressive, and its really easy and versatile, Once you know the basics of this recipe you can substitute in things and dont have to follow the recipe precisely.

Dough

package active dry or fresh yeast

1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey

1 cup warm water

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (or regular oil)

(Let the dough sit for a while and let the yeast rise.)

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I did 2 different fillings just to try different things both of them were a hit. You can play around with this.

Chicken Filling

Spicy Jack Daniels barbecue sauce (or any)

Mozzarella cheese

Chicken (cooked cubes)

Fresh cilantro

Red onion

Just mix the chicken and sauce into a bowl. Then after placing the chicken mixture onto the middle of the dough, add in the shredded mozzarella cheese, red onions and cilantro. Then thats it! Wait for it to bake. It takes around 25- 30 mins at 400 degrees. You can apply an egg wash on the bread if you wish, I did not. I used Pam's olive oil spray (after taking the picture). You could also leave it as is and it looks like good bread!

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Fish Filling

Caramelized onion

Fish (cooked cubes)

Bihari Kabob Shan Masala

Water

Lemon

Tomatoes

Caramelize one onion. Then keep that aside. Get some uncooked tilapia cut into cubes. Heat up the saucepan, add some oil and let the fish cook. Then add some bihari kabob mix, eyeball it. Add in a little water and lemon. Let that cook. When you turn the heat off the fish should not be watery but it should have some thick sauce sticking to it. Place this mixture onto the dough. Then add in the caramelized onions to the mixture. Then to finish cut slices of a tomato and place those slices on top of the fish mixture and caramelized mixture.

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After you roll out your dough and are happy with the looks of it place it onto some foil or baking sheet. Make sure whatever you use is sprayed with oil. Then, cut even slits on both sides of the filling with a knife. Starting at one end, fold alternating strips at an angle across filling. (The filling should be in the center of the dough)

Then that’s it! Wait for it to bake. It takes around 25- 30 mins at 400 degrees. You can apply an egg wash on the bread if you wish… I didn’t. I used Pam's olive oil spray (after taking the picture). You could also leave it as is and it looks like good bread!