Taco Loaf by Jen (AND a recipe for WHITE BREAD)

Yeah I finally got my cousin Jennifer Lopez to blog for us!!! No I am not related to the singer Jennifer Lopez but I am related to the amazing cook Jennifer Lopez. She is an awesome cook that can make anything I swear!!! She posted this on her fb and I asked her to share it with us so thank you Jen we love you!!!

Hi I just Wanted to share my new creation :)



TACO LOAF

First you must prepare a half batch of my bread recipe so that'll come first followed by the Taco Loaf recipe. Lucky you, you get 2 recipes in 1 ;)

Grandma's Country White Bread

*Makes 2 loaves

INGREDIENTS
3 cups luke-warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. yeast
1/3 cup oil
1 Tbsp. salt
6 - 7 cups unbleached ground white wheat flour (You can use regular all-purpose flour with success as well. You will need more flour... closer to 8 cups, and it will make a softer, less-coarse bread.)

*opt. 1 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten (if using whole white wheat flour)

DIRECTIONS

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and sugar. Let sit 10 minutes. Add the oil. Add the dry ingredients starting with 6 cups of flour. Mix all together. Knead the dough thoroughly until all ingredients are incorporated, and dough is smooth, elastic, very slightly sticky, and pulls away from the bowl (6-10 minutes). As you knead the dough, you may add more flour as needed, and repeat the process until dough reaches the desired consistency.

Cover the bowl of dough with a dish towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled (an hour or more depending on how warm your kitchen is.) You may speed up this process by placing the covered bowl inside the oven with the oven light on, and another bowl of warm water sitting on the lower rack.

Punch the dough down, divide and form into 2 loaves. Place the dough in 2 greased bread pans. (I use 9" pans.) Cover and let rise till the top of the dough is an inch or two above the bread pans. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove the baked loaves from their pans immediately, and place on a cooling rack. Slice, and serve warm with butter and honey.

Store in an air-tight bag. Baked loaves AND bread dough freeze well.

Taco Loaf
To make this you must first prepare half the batch of the “grandma’s bread” recipe. Instead of placing loaf in pan to double the second time, you will roll it out to about a 1/4 inch thickness. Make sure you are working on a well-floured surface. Once rolled out, rollup with plastic wrap so the dough doesn’t stick together. Last place plastic wrap over roll to allow to rise. Now proceed to preparing the filling.

Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
1 yellow onion chopped and divided
3 cloves garlic mined and divided
1 4.5oz can of diced green chilies, drained
Salt and pepper to taste
3 roma tomatoes chopped
1/2 lime
2-3cups mixed grated cheese, Monterey jack and cheddar

Prepare all veggies.
Place tomatoes, half the onion, 1 clove of garlic, juice of half of a lime and salt to taste in a glass bowl. Stir, cover and place in fridge.

Preheat oven to 375.

Next mix the turkey, onion, garlic, drained chilies, salt and pepper together. Fry over medium high heat until the juices evaporate and the turkey begins to get just a little crispy.

Now prepare a cookie sheet with oil (cooking spray) and a very thin layer of flour. Roll dough back out and fill with a thin layer of cheese mix. Next apply meat mix to half of the rolled out dough. Begin rolling the dough back up, similar to rolling cinnamon rolls, tucking the ends inside as you roll. You may add more cheese if you wish to create cheese layers in the bread. Once rolled completely, pinch off seams and lay seam side down. Cut slits in the top just enough to see the meat. Do this every 1 ½ inches or so.

Bake for about 20 minutes and sprinkle cheese on top. Bake an addition 5 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with just a bit of butter anywhere there is no cheese. Allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes. Cut and serve with tomato salsa.