![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kitchenklutzThird bread recipe for today, appropriately enough, is adapted from the frankly very impressive Panera Bread Cookbook. This recipe made a lot more bread than I was expecting, particularly with the four-smaller-loaves pattern I'd been following -- two loaves sizeable enough that they wouldn't have been out of place on sale at a full-size bakery stall in the market.
Pleasantly enough, despite a substantial amount of rising for the dough, it also went relatively quickly. It's also adaptable to, well, whatever three or so different cheeses you might have on hand. I used what I had available to create a batch of
Three Cheese Bread
Ingredients:
Starter:
* 1 cup warm water (95 - 105 degrees F)
* 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
Dough:
* 3/4 cup warm water (95 - 105 degrees F)
* 3 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
* 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
------> (I should note - the original recipe calls for fresh yeast, but lacking that I substituted active dry instead. The conversion ratio for fresh to active dry is 2 to 1.)
* 1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon butter or margarine
* 4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon salt
* 1/2 cup (2 ounces) 1/2 inch cubes of Parmesan cheese
* 1/2 cup (2 ounces) 1/2 inch cubes of sharp cheddar cheese
* 1/2 cup (2 ounces) 1/2 inch cubes of Asiago (or store-bought shredded blended) cheese
Method:
1. Creating the Starter: Combine the water and yeast in a medium mixing bowl. Stir to dissolve the yeast fully, then add the flour to the bowl and stir until all ingredients are fully incorporated. Cover with a cloth and ferment the starter at room temperature for 30 minutes.
(I'll admit, I was a little nervous about this working what with my cold kitchen and all. So after this mix, I parked the starter bowl kinda sorta near my pre-heated oven vent, but not right next to/under it the way I'd done with mixed dough I wanted to fully rise. It turned out reasonably well; I have no complaints.)
2. For the Dough: Combine the water, honey or agave, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir to dissolve the yeast fully. Add the butter or margarine, flour, salt, cheeses, and fermented starter. Mix on low speed with a dough hook until the dough is fully developed (scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula if necessary to incorporate all bits of dough).
3. Divide the dough into 2 pieces weighing about 22 ounces each. (I didn't bother with a weigh-in for the dough, just eyeballed it into half-and-half dough balls.) Set aside any remaining dough and freeze for future use. Roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball. Place the dough on the counter or in a proofing basket and cover with a warm, damp cloth to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
4. Form the dough into loaves, cover with a warm damp cloth, and proof at room temperature for 30 minutes.
5. Score the tops of the loaves with a sharp knife, spray with water, and bake for 30 minutes, or until the crusts are a deep golden brown and the middle of the loaves is 190 - 200 degrees F.
6. Remove the bread from the oven and place on a cooling rack for 30 minutes. If the bread was baked in loaf pans, remove the bread from the pans before cooling.
Incredibly tasty and savory cheesy bread, equally servable sliced thin or with people just tearing off hunks at a party. The base recipe also makes a stupendous amount of bread, enough for two full-sized loaves -- I gave one loaf away to a convalescing friend and took another in to share with about a dozen or so other friends, and everyone got a decent quantity. Highly recommended, and I'll be trying out a number of other Panera recipes in the future.
Pleasantly enough, despite a substantial amount of rising for the dough, it also went relatively quickly. It's also adaptable to, well, whatever three or so different cheeses you might have on hand. I used what I had available to create a batch of
Three Cheese Bread
Ingredients:
Starter:
* 1 cup warm water (95 - 105 degrees F)
* 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
Dough:
* 3/4 cup warm water (95 - 105 degrees F)
* 3 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
* 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
------> (I should note - the original recipe calls for fresh yeast, but lacking that I substituted active dry instead. The conversion ratio for fresh to active dry is 2 to 1.)
* 1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon butter or margarine
* 4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon salt
* 1/2 cup (2 ounces) 1/2 inch cubes of Parmesan cheese
* 1/2 cup (2 ounces) 1/2 inch cubes of sharp cheddar cheese
* 1/2 cup (2 ounces) 1/2 inch cubes of Asiago (or store-bought shredded blended) cheese
Method:
1. Creating the Starter: Combine the water and yeast in a medium mixing bowl. Stir to dissolve the yeast fully, then add the flour to the bowl and stir until all ingredients are fully incorporated. Cover with a cloth and ferment the starter at room temperature for 30 minutes.
(I'll admit, I was a little nervous about this working what with my cold kitchen and all. So after this mix, I parked the starter bowl kinda sorta near my pre-heated oven vent, but not right next to/under it the way I'd done with mixed dough I wanted to fully rise. It turned out reasonably well; I have no complaints.)
2. For the Dough: Combine the water, honey or agave, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir to dissolve the yeast fully. Add the butter or margarine, flour, salt, cheeses, and fermented starter. Mix on low speed with a dough hook until the dough is fully developed (scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula if necessary to incorporate all bits of dough).
3. Divide the dough into 2 pieces weighing about 22 ounces each. (I didn't bother with a weigh-in for the dough, just eyeballed it into half-and-half dough balls.) Set aside any remaining dough and freeze for future use. Roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball. Place the dough on the counter or in a proofing basket and cover with a warm, damp cloth to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
4. Form the dough into loaves, cover with a warm damp cloth, and proof at room temperature for 30 minutes.
5. Score the tops of the loaves with a sharp knife, spray with water, and bake for 30 minutes, or until the crusts are a deep golden brown and the middle of the loaves is 190 - 200 degrees F.
6. Remove the bread from the oven and place on a cooling rack for 30 minutes. If the bread was baked in loaf pans, remove the bread from the pans before cooling.
Incredibly tasty and savory cheesy bread, equally servable sliced thin or with people just tearing off hunks at a party. The base recipe also makes a stupendous amount of bread, enough for two full-sized loaves -- I gave one loaf away to a convalescing friend and took another in to share with about a dozen or so other friends, and everyone got a decent quantity. Highly recommended, and I'll be trying out a number of other Panera recipes in the future.
