Recipe Ideas from Jays n Dees – The Bread Thing
The Bread Thing recipe and instructions. We at jaysndees absolutely love food. So much, that occasionally we will come up with a new idea or improvement on an existing one to satisfy the needs and hungers that occur with Our Family of 6 people – 4 of whom, are growing people. When we find almost perfection to something we have cooked up, it will be shared here.
So read on to find out how to make a super yummy The Bread Thing!
Basic Information:
History/inspiration. This particular dish that is known as The Bread Thing in our family was randomly thought up not too many months ago now, drawing inspiration from consecutive cold wet nights, a few too many drinks, and also some fond memories of when my (D1) deceased dad used to talk of some of the foods he ate growing up- one of those being a whole loaf of bread, ripping the guts out of it, and stuffing it with chips and gravy.
Basic dish information. Although there is not a vast amount of veggies to be found in this dish, it does go well when complimented with a side of nice fresh veg.
There is not much to the dish, but there is a decent amount of preparation work that goes into it.
Cooking style – Pot/Pan, frypan, bbq, slowcooker, etc. BBQ or oven; we only use a bbq for it though, except the mac and cheese, veg, and bacon. We use a pot for these on a gas cooker.
Preparation Time. First time with the dish, expect and allow for about half an hour.
Cooking Time. We allow about 45 minutes for this part. Remember that this includes the initial preheat of the loaf too.
Serves. Serves 2 adults and 4 children, aged between 12 and 2, with enough left over for a lunch or major snack the next day.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 x 800g loaf white toasty bread; unsliced. Preparation required.
- 1 x fresh roasted bbq chicken. Preparation required.
- 250g bacon pieces. Preparation required. (not shown in image)
- 1 – 1 1/2 cups grated/shredded cheese.
- 2 slices of fake cheese (cheese slices).
- 1 x sachet mac and cheese.
- 1 x 250mL sachet traditional gravy microwaveable (or make your own equivalent).
- 1/2 cup frozen veg (winter veg or peas,corn,carrot). Preparation required.
- 1 heaped tablespoon of crushed/minced/paste garlic.
- 1 teaspoon crushed ginger.
- Garlic and Herb seasoning (shaker type).
- “Everything” seasoning (shaker type).
- Salt and Pepper. We use pink Himalayan salt, and whole black peppercorns, both in grinders.
- 1 teaspoon Sugar (we use raw sugar).
- BBQ sauce. Try smoky bbq sauce for an interesting variation!
- Sweet Chilli Sauce.
- Approx 75g Butter/Margarine. We use salted butter.
UTENSILS:
- 1 or 2 tupperware type containers
- Cutting knife, fork, spoon
- Measuring implements – cup, tablespoon, teaspoon
- Stirring spoon or similar
- Small pot
- Shallow tray with suitable space for the loaf and the top to sit comfortably
- Piece of baking paper to line tray
- Microwave safe container/cup
- Microwave
- BBQ (or oven)
- Cooktop for pots/pans
PREPARATION:
– All initial tasks – measuring, weighing, scooping, guestimating, cutting, chopping, grinding, maiming, etc.
– Other initial food preparations – preheats, pre cooks, etc
- Preheat BBQ/oven to between 150-180 degrees celsius. We use a 4 burner BBQ, and only ignite the two outermost burners on high.
- Fully shred bbq chook. We usually remove all of the skin first and set it aside in a corner of a tupperware container. Then we take off the legs and wings, putting them aside on a plate. After that we will strip off all of the major flesh components- breast meat, back meat, etc, until we have reclaimed all of the usable meat. Put all of it on the plate with the legs and wings. Finally we will harvest any stuffing (seasoning) from inside the chook, and put it in the container with the skin. Now to shred the meat – piece by piece off the plate, we use a fork to shred the flesh, placing it in the container as we go. Remove any gristle, bone, and other undesirable parts during this process.
Once it has been shredded, we add our sauces over the top and give it a quick hand mix.
- Prepare the bread loaf. Cut about 2cm off the bread top, the whole length of the loaf. Remove all inners, leaving around 1.5cm on the walls and 1cm on the floor. Press the top, walls and floor firm, WITHOUT BREAKING the loaf!
Once preheat is complete, it is safe to put loaf in, use baking paper on a shallow tray, put the loaf and top on the tray, and place it in the centre of the BBQ for 10-15 minutes, or until the internals are starting to get a feel of toast.
- Melt butter in microwave on high for 1 minute in a microwave safe cup. When done, mix in the garlic, ginger, and herbs, and stir very well until everything is blended in consistently. Set aside until ready to use.
- Cook Mac and Cheese with the frozen veg + sugar on a stovetop. Follow the directions on the mac and cheese packet for cooking. Set aside until ready to use.
- Heat bacon pieces in a shallow pan on stovetop. Stir regularly on a medium/high heat for 3-5 minutes, until it smells like nicely cooking bacon. Set aside until ready to use.
- Make or heat the gravy, follow packet instructions if using microwave gravy. This is usually high heat for 1 minute. Set aside until ready to use.
- Prepare cheeses as necessary. Break sliced cheese into 5 strips per slice. Set aside until ready to use.
METHOD:
The how to do step-by-steps
This section assumes that the bread loaf frame has just finished the initial warm up and is fresh out of the BBQ.
- Take the main loaf and place it on a firm surface. Proceed to spread your garlic butter over each of the walls of the loaf- rotating the loaf as you do so. We prefer to use a spoon for this rather than a butter knife, as it is easier to grab a spoonful to spread and deposit the mixture to where it is needed. Apply liberally so that it looks nice and moist on all of the walls. Once complete, proceed to rub more of the mixture over the floor of the bread loaf.
Remember to keep your current working section on a firm surface to prevent breakage of the walls of the loaf.
By the end of the main part of the loaf, you should have only about a quarter of the garlic butter mixture left. Coat the inside toasted part of the top piece with the remaining butter mixture.
- Now it is the time to assemble The Bread Thing.
Make sure to gently spread and pack each layer as you go.
Once it is done cooking, remove from the heat and stand to cool for about 5 minutes. This also helps the external shell to finish hardening to make for easier cutting.
– Floor: Mac and Cheese + veg layer. Cover the entire floor.
– Chicken layer. Make sure this layer is a decent thickness, but do not pack it to a smooth layer.
– Bacon layer. Fill up all of the random depression areas you created on the previous layer.
– Cheese layer. Provide a nice thick layer of the grated/shredded cheese, up to 5-6mm thick. Gently press.
– Gravy layer. Use a generous amount to mostly cover the cheese.
– Stuffing/Seasoning layer (optional). Break apart the stuffing and sprinkle the entire amount across the cheese and gravy layering.
– Bacon layer. A nice quick sprinkle layer with a minor firming press.
– Chicken layer. Add a slim layer over the top of the mac and cheese.
– Mac and Cheese + veg layer. This layer will use the rest of your mac and cheese and veg. Spread even and firm.
– Sliced cheese layer. Add on this layer as an angled crosshatch vision.
– Chicken layer. Add all the remaining shredded chicken across this layer. Do not pack down this layer.
– Gravy layer. Pour out all remaining gravy. Ensure to top up any low spots in the chicken with the mix.
– Shredded cheese and bacon layer. Mix together and spread out over the previous layer. Gently firm down evenly.
– Final layer: Chicken skin over the entire top. Add a crack of salt and pepper over the top.
– ADD THE LID ON THE TOP NOW.
Put the final construction back into the BBQ, and heat for between 20-25 minutes, or until the shredded cheese is melty looking. Yes, this will require you to lift the lid of the loaf, but no big deal. Also, remember to turn the tray at least once whilst it is cooking.
When ready to serve, slice the loaf without the top on so that you can properly support the sidewalls as the knife is drawn through. Slice the top also to make extra garlic bread.
EXTRA INFORMATION:
..extraPara/closing statements, etc
The J2 Plate:
Our J2 does not like gravy. I know, what a weirdo, right? Anyway, we make up a special deconstructed version of the bread thing dish just for him. It is literally everything except the gravy, separated. Also, he gets bones, as we give him a drumstick and wing that was pulled off the chook at the beginning. We do not remove the skin or anything beforehand.
At least he is still happy to enjoy the dinner with the rest of us!
For his garlic bread, we simply cut a couple of slices off the inners we removed, and load them up with some of the garlic butter concoction. Easy, crustless garlic bread!
DISCLAIMER
Whilst all due care is taken with writing out this recipe, we cannot accomodate for any food allergies or intolerances. You as the reader are however, more than welcome, to provide a comment of such as to how you overcome and/or substitute ingredients, methods, or otherwise, to provide YOUR PERFECT VARIATION OF THIS PARTICULAR DISH!
We welcome any and all feedbacks, comments, criticisms, or suggestions.
All images are copyright and the property of jaysndees.
Additional Information:
VARIATIONS:
- Use fresh crushed garlic for a little extra blast of flavour in the dish.
- Add chilli if you really want to – we recommend fresh sliced jalapenos. Just make sure to add a bit more milk to the mac and cheese to balance out the heat. If you are not concerned about heat, then by all means, use some carolina reaper sauce over the chicken in place of the sweet chilli sauce! Warning though – IT WILL BE VERY HOT! (Not suitable for children AT ALL!)
- Add more variety of veg – some salad, a bean mix, capsicums, etc. This gives a nice colour too when done properly.
The next time I (D1) make The Bread Thing, I will add these veggie variations and update this post with the photo. - Pepperoni/salami/kabana always works great as an extra, as does ground beef (mince). Just remember to prepare these before adding into the final construction method (cook, peel, etc)