Friday, June 1, 2012

Freezer Cooking: Buns+Shredded Chicken Sandwiches

I didn't get to work on freezer foods today, but luckily I did yesterday. 

I boiled up about 6 packs of chicken breasts and shredded them and froze what I didn't use.
(Yes!- I'll get back to that chicken in just a second!)
I still have the broth simmering and will freeze what I don't use for lunch tomorrow.

But here's the best of my freezer foods yesterday- BUNS!
I often make Buttermilk Buns but that recipe is kinda small and I was after BULK.

My family also loves my French Bread recipe for Shredded Chicken Sandwiches so- I used it because it makes LOTS.


My suggestions for freezing these buns:
Cool VERY well. Split with a jagged edged knife.
Wrap well in plastic or foil. Freeze in an airtight container.
To reheat; stuff with your favorite filling, wrap in foil and toss in the oven (or microwave) until warm.
If you prefer and like these Shredded Chicken Sandwiches, you may cool the ingredients, assemble them and wrap. They heat easily in the oven or microwave.
(*Shredded cheese may have a preferable texture if freezing these sandwiches pre-made.)
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The French Bread Recipe that I used for the Buns pictured on this post:
DISSOLVE:

5 teaspoons yeast
IN:
3 cups warm water
Mix in:
2 T sugar
2 T olive oil
2 1/2 t salt
Mix in:
5 cups whole wheat flour
Then knead/mix in:
4 to 5 cups of white flour,
gradually just until a nice stretchy dough forms.
Allow to rise for about an hour, punching down as needed.
Shape into 4 loaves and score diagonally.
Allow to rise until doubled and bake at 400 for 25 to 35 minutes.

6 comments:

JMD said...

Gosh, those look totally bakery. Wonderful. Next time show a step by step, I may get brave enough to try making them.

Donna said...

JMD,
Thank you!
I will try to do that in the future.
They really are easy- very easy. :)

JMD said...

I hope they are because they look perfect. My husband would be so happy. He absolutely loves hamburgers and where we live any bread products we buy are not good. Usually I bake all of our bread and rolls. Sigh. Lots of work but worth it.

Anonymous said...

I was hoping for a recipe or tutorial! I'm going to attempt to make my own buns this weekend and I'm a little nervous!

Donna said...

Anon, the recipes are in the links on this post. There are 3 different "hyper links".
One for-
Buttermilk Buns:
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/03/homemade-buttermilk-buns.html

another for the French Bread that I used to make the ones in the pictures:
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/04/french-bread-4-loaves.html

and the last one is for the Shredded Chicken Sandwiches:
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/05/shredded-chicken-sandwiches.html

And just in case you're not sure how to paste and copy those links, I'll work up the main one I used into the post for you ;-)

Donna said...

JMD,
My dh is a burger guy too. He LOVES these buns, especially the Buttermilk Buns for hamburgers :)