Cheese Bread

Now one of our favourite finds in the UK at our Whole Foods has been Cheese Bread. This is a great mixture of bread and cheese and usually in Alan's book that is about all you need. I had not found a recipe for it until I found this book which is a fun read. Country Wisdom & Know-How (from the Editors of Storey Books). It is a book full of 8,167 Useful Skills & Step-by-Step Instructions and there are quite a few recipes! We have made the Monkey Bread from here before but that one still needs some adjustments so will keep working on it before posting. This one is straightforward but the key is good and strong cheese to bring out the flavour. We are lucky to have discovered a great Provolone that we buy locally at our farmers market in Barnes. The cheese has a real zing to it and really sets off this bread wonderfully. To be fair we had never had any Provolone before like this it is STRONG!

Cheese Bread

adapted from Country Wisdom & Know-How

1 pkg dry yeast

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup (120ml) water - lukewarm (95-110F; 35-40C)

1 1/4 cups (295ml) milk

2 1/2 cups grated or shredded cheese - Put the good stuff in!

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

4 1/2-5 1/2 cups bread flour (I used this last time and it worked well and used smaller quantity) OR use 5-6 cups white flour

Proof the yeast in a large bowl along with the sugar in the lukewarm water.

Beat in the milk, cheese and oil to the yeast mixture, then add in the salt and 2 1/2 cups of the flour. Mix well. The dough will start to come together but still be wet.

Keep adding more flour to bring the dough together and not as wet. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and add more flour as needed while kneading the dough. Knead until the dough is smooth and shiney.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, turn once to coat, then cover and let it rise until doubled in size. I place this in my "Harry Potter" closet under the stairs and it heats up nicely with our water heater in there! I usually estimate about 2 hours rising time.

Once doubled in size punch down the dough and divide it into two loaves. Have ready 2 9-inch loaf pans greased & floured and ready for the dough.

A method for preparing the dought into the pan that I have found helpful:

Work on a very lightly floured surface. Work the dough with the heel of your hand to form dough into a rectangle. Fold over the long sides of the rectangle to the middle, like an envelope and then pinch the seam closed with the fingers. Finally fold the ends of the loaf into the middle. Place seam side down into the pan and gently press into the pan.

Cover the two loaf pans lightly and let rise again until once more doubled in size, just cresting the pan edge. Bake in pre-heated oven at 350F. Bake for 40 minutes

In my oven it takes about 30 minutes to bake so check on your bread. The loaves when finished should sound hollow when tapping on the bottom of the pan.

Enjoy!