That Million Dollar Baby BakeOff Winner Follow up

I've just posted this to my website:

"My Usenet foodie friends and I have been scoffing at the million dollar winner of the 2006 Pillsbury Bake-Off. I mean, why in Alex's name would you involve fake maple syrup in anything? And waffles as the basis for bread dressing? You gotta be kidding. I felt it my Christian duty to try out this recipe and report to the troops.

Well, guess what! They weren't much kidding. It took trips to a couple stores to find the Pillsbury Dunkable waffle stick thingies, but I did. About $2.50 for the box. And I got a real bargain on bone-in chicken breasts at Rainbow, too -- a buck a pound. The only other ingredient I had to buy was a bag of frozen cut leaf spinach.

Pictures of the meal in progress are below. I don't have a picture of the finished recipe on a plate because I had two guys at the table waiting for me to finish taking pictures so they could eat. (I'm bribing my friend Marcie's husband with jam and dinner to see if he can figure out why in Sam Hill Rob cannot hook up to my wireless 'puter network. This glitch ceased being humorous after about 30 seconds when we discovered it. After some poking around Rob's system, Bill discovered that some driver on Rob's HP system was woefully out of date. They now have Rob's machine connected to my network via an ethernet cable and are downloading the software update. Cross fingers and toes, please.

Back to dinner: It was pretty darned good. And Rob ate the dressing with the spinach and pronounced it good. Go figure. I've never known him to eat cooked spinach in 40 years of wedded life. I cooked a few carrots to accompany, and fixed the bagged Caesar salad. Bill, when he called to say he was coming over, said he wasn't hungry. He ate a bit to be polite, I think, and I'll send him home with one of the remaining chicken breasts from the dish and some of the sauce.

I doubled the recipe; it was written for 2 servings. I used three bone-in chicken breasts, a couple drumsticks, three skinless thighs, and a boneless breast. I added the boneless breast to the collection about 10 minutes after starting, figuring that since it was boneless it wouldn't require as much bake time. I actually measured stuff. Imagine.

We liked it. Personally, I think the stuffing could use a little bit of salt and more herb seasoning.

Here's the recipe for Baked Chicken and Spinach Stuffing, the 2006 Pillsbury Bake-off winning recipe, created by Anna Ginsberg, Austin, TX.

9 Pillsbury Dunkables frozen homestyle waffle sticks with 3 syrup cups (from 1 lb 1.3-oz box) 2 tablespoons peach preserves 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 2 bone-in skin-on chicken breasts (1 lb) 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 tablespoon butter or margarine 1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium) 1/4 cup chicken broth 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh sage 1 1/2 cups Green Giant frozen cut leaf spinach (from 1-lb bag), thawed, squeezed to drain well 1 tablespoon beaten egg white 1 tablespoon chopped pecans

1. Heat oven to 350¡F. Spray 9-inch glbutt pie plate or 8-inch square pan with cooking spray. In small bowl, mix contents of syrup cups from waffles, the preserves and Worcestershire sauce. Place chicken, skin side up, in pie plate; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spoon syrup mixture over chicken. Bake uncovered 25 minutes. 2. Meanwhile, toast waffle sticks as directed on box. Cool slightly, about 2 minutes. Cut waffles into 3/4-inch cubes; set aside. Spray 1-quart cbutterole with cooking spray (or use 9x5-inch nonstick loaf pan; do not spray). In 10-inch nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir 2 minutes or until tender. Stir in waffle pieces and broth, breaking up and moistening waffle pieces. Sprinkle with poultry seasoning and sage. Remove from heat; stir in spinach. Cool about 5 minutes. Stir in egg white and pecans. 3. Spoon stuffing into cbutterole; place in oven with chicken. Bake uncovered 15 to 25 minutes or until juice of chicken is clear when thickest part is cut to bone (170¡F) and stuffing is thoroughly heated. Serve chicken with stuffing, spooning remaining sauce in pan over chicken."

-- -Barb

"If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all."