Savory Biscuit Bubble Bread (Heart Shaped)

Every year on Valentine's Day I like to make a meal that incorporates hearts in some way.  This year, I made a Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza Pasta (posted above) with a heart-shaped cut out in the middle of the dish to let the red pasta sauce show through the melted mozzarella cheese on top.  Of course, that wasn't enough for me, so I decided to try this new bread recipe to accompany the casserole and baked it in a heart-shaped springform pan and served it on a heart-shaped plate.  

This bread is pretty simple to assemble and a tasty addition to any meal.  I found the recipe in one of the Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe books, which are sold near the check-out register at the market.  The Bake-Off books are filled with the best recipes from that event, which is held once a year.  This recipe got all 8's on the Melnarik rating scale.

I began by preheating my oven to 350ºF.   Then I generously greased my heart-shaped springform pan.  The recipe calls for a 12-cup fluted tube pan, so any bundt pan would work well.  Then, in a large bowl, I combined the Parmesan cheese, green bell pepper, and bacon, which I had prepared previously.  If you don't have regular bacon on hand, or don't have time to cook it for this recipe, you can use the precooked bacon, chopping it before adding it to the bowl.  The recipe also calls for some chopped onion, but I didn't have any that day and didn't have time to make a trip to the market.

I then opened the cans of biscuits and cut each biscuit into 6 wedges, then added them to the bowl.  I tossed all of the ingredients until all of the pieces of biscuit were coated.

Next, I put the biscuits into my greased pan, making sure they came close to the edge, but leaving a little room because I knew they would rise.  Then I drizzled the melted butter over the top (sorry, no picture).  By the way, I learned a lesson when making this bread in a springform pan.  I should have only greased the bottom of the pan, because as the bread baked, the butter melted and ran through the seam at the edge of the pan and got all over the bottom of my oven.  What a mess!   If I had used a bundt pan, I wouldn't have had any trouble, but I don't own a heart-shaped one so I opted for the springform pan!  I placed it in the oven and baked it at 350ºF for 30 minutes.

Once out of the oven, I removed the side of the pan and inverted it onto my heart-shaped plate.  Believe me, it smelled even better than it looked!  Enjoy!

Savory Biscuit Bubble Bread

8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (or precooked bacon, chopped)

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup finely chopped green bell pepper

¼ cup finely chopped onion

2 (12 oz.) can Pillsbury biscuits

½ cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Generously grease 12-cup fluted tube pan.  In large bowl, combine bacon, Parmesan cheese, bell pepper and onion; mix well.  Separate dough into biscuits.  Cut each biscuit into 6 wedges; place in bowl with bacon-cheese mixture.  Toss to mix.  Arrange mixture in greased pan.  Drizzle with melted butter.  Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Immediately invert onto serving plate; remove pan.  Serve warm.

Open-Faced White Cheddar Cheese Sandwiches

I have served this sandwich a few times at teas I have hosted, but most recently served it at a garden party where I catered all of the food.  I offered four savory options and three deserts, so I apologize for not having preparation pictures.  A big thank you to Connie Shelton who took pictures of my food that day and without whom I would not have a picture to share with you here!

I found this recipe in the January/February issue of Tea Time Magazine.  This open-faced sandwich is a bit of a surprise to the taste buds because it has a bit of heat from a little cayenne pepper, but it's also bursting with flavor.  Most people are surprised that it's made with white cheddar because of the color, however, the cayenne gives the cheese the orange hue.

A food processor is a necessary tool when making this recipe to get the texture just right. There are only a few steps to making this sandwich, so it doesn't take much time.  

After shredding the cheeses, I place them, the mayonnaise and cayenne pepper into my food processor fitted with the blade attachment.  Using the pulse button, I combine the ingredients until they are fully incorporated and mostly smooth.  The roasted red peppers come in strips, so after I drain them, I dice them.  After dicing the fresh chives, I remove the cheese mixture to a medium bowl and fold in the peppers and chives.  

If I'm serving these right away, I cut my bread into shapes and dress them with the cheese mixture and a couple of fresh chives for garnish.  The bread can be cut into any shape you desire, making sure they aren't any bigger than about 2 inches in diameter.  

When serving sandwiches at a tea, I've found that the bread can dry out pretty quickly.  The way to avoid this is to place your sandwiches on your serving plate, then cover with wax paper.  Completely cover the wax paper with slightly wet paper towel.  The wet paper towel will keep in the moisture and the wax paper acts as a barrier to keep the sandwiches from getting wet.  Remove both layers just before serving.  This works every time!

In this case, I wanted to make as many things ahead of time as possible, so I toasted my bread the day before and stored the pieces in a zip lock bag.  Sandwiches are usually cut in squares, triangles, and rectangles, so I decided to have a different look and cut the bread into hexagons. Open-faced sandwiches give you more of an option that way.

I had made the cheese mixture ahead of time also and brought it in a Tupperware bowl, so all I had to do was assemble the sandwiches.  I thought spreading the cheese would take too much time, so I used the smallest of my Pampered Chef scoops to top the toast with the cheese, then applied two small pieces of chives for garnish.  They tasted as good as they looked!  Enjoy!

Addendum:

I made these delicious open-faced sandwiches today again for a Fall Tea.  To make it a little more theme related, I used bread shaped like oak leaves and I put a clove in the top of the cheese ball to make it resemble a pumpkin!  This side view isn't the best, but I'll show you how I did it.

 Using an oak leaf cookie cutter, I cut out two leaves from each slice of multi grain bread.  Using a butter knife, I made an indentation up the middle to resemble the main vein in the leaf.

Then, I toasted them in the toaster oven.  I made the leaf toasts a day ahead, and once they were cooled, I stored them in a zip-lock bag until they were ready to top with the cheese ball.

Following the recipe below, I made the cheese mixture.  Using the smallest (about 1-inch) Pampered Chef scoop, I placed cheese on the end of each leaf and placed a clove in the top.  I just love playing with food!  Enjoy!

Open-Faced White Cheddar Cheese Sandwiches

8 oz. sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded

8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

5 tablespoons mayonnaise

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ cup diced marinated roasted red peppers

¼ cup minced chives

12 slices multigrain bread, cut into rounds with a 2-inch cookie cutter

Garnish:  fresh chives

In the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, pulse together the cheddar, Monterey Jack, mayonnaise, and cayenne until mixture is mostly smooth.  Fold in the diced red peppers and chives until well combined.  Spread a small amount on each bread round and garnish with fresh chives, if desired.