Gardener's Treat Bread
- 4 -4 12 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 14 teaspoons instant yeast or 1 14 ounces active dry yeast
- 1 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 12 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, cut into 1/8 in. cubes (or other aged cheese such as Asiago)
- 1 egg white, mixed with
- 1 teaspoon water
- green onions (one, some, or all) or leeks (one, some, or all) or chives (one, some, or all) or parsley (one, some, or all)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- In a large mixing bowl stir together 2 cups of the flour and the yeast; set aside.
- In a medium saucepan heat and stir milk, sugar, butter, and salt until just warm (not over 120 degrees), butter should just melt.
- Add milk mixture to dry mixture along with the 2 eggs.
- Beat by hand using a wooden spoon until a loose elastic dough forms.
- Add 2 T. herbs of your choosing and cheese, stir to incorporate.
- Add as much of the remaining flour as possible, then turn out onto floured counter and knead until dough is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes).
- Return dough to the large mixing bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil and cover.
- Let rise till double (about an hour).
- Punch down and turn dough out to floured counter and divide into 3 pieces.
- Lightly grease a 12x18 sheet pan (or use a Silpat or parchment paper) and shape each piece of dough into a 10x4 loaf.
- Place on sheet pan leaving ample room between loaves.
- In a small bowl beat egg white and water and brush onto loaves.
- Gently press herbs onto loaves (whole parsley leaves and long chives are beautiful), alternatively sprinkle loaves with chopped herbs like I do because I am lazy.
- :).
- Gently brush herbs with olive oil to keep them from drying out (this isn't necessary if using chopped herbs).
- Cover and let rise until nearly double in size (about 45 minutes).
- Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 - 30 minutes, loosely covering with foil for the last 5 or 10 minutes if tops are browning too much.
yeast, milk, sugar, butter, salt, eggs, parmesan cheese, egg, water, green onions, olive oil
Taken from www.food.com/recipe/gardeners-treat-bread-501107 (may not work)