Yummy Bread Bowls

There is something so ancient about serving soup in a bread bowl. It hearkens back to the days of eating with your hands and wild boar meat.

Here is a great recipe I found on allrecipes.com which I embellished a bit...

Italian Bread Bowls (makes 8)

2 (.25 oz) packages active dry yeast or 4 1/2 tsp. bread yeast

2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees)

2 tsp. Kosher salt

1 Tbl. Raw sugar

1 tsp. Italian seasons (or just oregano)

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

7 cups unbleached flour

I did the first part in my breadmaker. I threw all of the ingredients in except 2 cups of the flour. After it got going a bit, I threw in the rest of the flour. My breadmaker isn't large, so I had to take the mixed dough out and let it rise in a large bowl in my oven. (In cold weather I turn my oven on to 200 and let it run for a few minutes to warm it up. Then I turn it off and put my dough in to rise. If it isn't cold, you can stick it in a corner of your kitchen that isn't drafty) Let rise for 40 min. Punch down the dough and divide into 8 equal portions. Shape each into a 4" round loaf. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Cover and let rise for 35 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 25 minutes.

Optional: Beat 1 egg white with 1 tablespoon water. Brush over loaves and bake for 15 minutes. Brush with more of the egg mixture and bake for 10-15 more minutes.

To make bowls: Cut a 1/2 inch thick slice from top of each loaf. Scoop out the centers, leaving 3/4 inch thick shells. Fill bread bowls with hot soup and serve immediately.

A good soup for this would be anything creamy. I love Cream of Asparagus or Cream of Broccoli. Or try Rockin' Cheesy Bacon Corn Chowder on this site if you want it to be the main meal.

Here is an excellent recipe passed on to me by my friend Rhonda. It is a shortcut recipe in that it uses canned soups, but tastes like you cooked all day. I'm not one for using canned soup for any recipe, but this one is exceptional.

Crawfish Chowder

2 yellow onions chopped up
1 clove of garlic finely minced
2 bellpepper chopped up
4 cans cream of potato (do not dilute)
2 cans evaporated milk
2 cans cream of corn
2 lbs of crawfish tails
1 Stick of Butter melted
Tony Chachere’s Seasoning

Saute onion, bellpepper & garlic in butter. Cook until onions are clear.
Add crawfish, potato soup, cream of corn, seasoning, evaporated milk.
Cook for 20 minutes.
Enjoy!