Cheese Bread
- 1 package active dry yeast or one 1/2-ounce cake compressed yeast
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 cups warm water (100 to 115, approximately)
- 5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon salt, or slightly more to taste
- 1/2 stick ( 1/4 cup) softened butter
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or slightly more to taste
- 3/4 cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss Emmenthaler cheese
- Dissolve the yeast with the sugar in 1/4 cup of the warm water and allow to proof.
- In a large bowl, mix 5 cups of flour and the salt.
- Make a well in the center and add the remaining 1 1/2 cups warm water, the butter, the Tabasco, and the yeast mixture.
- Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula or with your floured hands until the dough is well amalgamated.
- Turn out on a heavily floured board (use about 1/2 cup flour) and knead for 10 to 12 minutes or until the dough is smooth, elastic, and rather satiny in texture and all the flour on the board is absorbed; add flour if you need it.
- Place the dough in a buttered or oiled bowl and turn to coat on all sides.
- Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours or slightly more.
- Punch down the dough, turn it out on a lightly floured board, and knead in the cheeses.
- When thoroughly blended, cut the dough in half and let rest for 10 minutes, then roll out each half into a rectangle about 11x 6 inches and let rest for 2 or 3 minutes more.
- Roll each rectangle up, pinching the edges as you do so, and tucking in the ends so that the loaf measures about 4 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches (see page 32).
- Place the dough in two well-buttered 8x 4x 2-inch tins, cover, and let rise in a warm spot until the bread has reached the top of the tin or slightly higher, or has more or less doubled in size.
- Bake on the center of the middle rack in a preheated 375 oven for approximately 30 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when removed from the tins and rapped with the knuckles on both top and bottom.
- Bake directly on the oven rack, without the tins, for a few minutes to firm the crust.
- Cool the bread on racks before slicing.
- VARIATIONS
- Instead of the butter, use 1/3 cup peanut oil or olive oil.
- Also use oil for the baking tins.
- Use fresh Parmesan or Romano onlya little over a cupor use a mixture of the two.
- Use shredded sharp Cheddar instead of the Gruyere cheese.
- Bake as one loaf in a 10 x 4 1/2 x 3-inch pan, which will make a thicker, more concentrated loaf and will take slightly longer to bake.
active dry yeast, sugar, warm water, flour, salt, butter, tabasco, freshly grated parmesan cheese, gruyere
Taken from www.cookstr.com/recipes/cheese-bread (may not work)