Crusty Cheese Bread

This bread is so good. I made it with mozzarella cheese. Not quiet as dramatic as the yellow of cheddar when it was sliced but the flavor is fantastic. I had already started making this one when I realized I was almost out of bread flour so I used unbleached whole wheat white in place of half of the bread flour. I also didn't add onions since I thought we'd like it better without them. I enjoyed making this one using some of my Mother Starter from the fridge. I made and baked the bread in the same day instead of letting rest in the fridge overnight as was one of the alternative ways. I know I'll be making this again. There are so many different cheeses you can use in this one and have a different bread each time. This goes well with soup, stew and pasta dishes and is also great as a snack. Bet it would be wonderful dipped in a bit of marinara sauce.

I made this bread for Easter Sunday. It goes very well with hors d'oeuvres. We put this bread out with some nice cheeses and charcuterie and it was a big hit. Peter says you can make this with any kind of cheese really, but good melting cheeses work the best. I made this recipe with some leftover shredded 5 cheese blend from pizza, some spare blue cheese from the ‘fridge and some freshly grated parmesan. The results were delicious!

The dough was a little difficult to work with. I also proofed it on a sheet pan and it kind of swelled out flat, so next time I will make sure to keep the form with some bunched up towels or other object to prevent the dough from swelling out instead of up.

This bread is addictive. I couldn't just eat one piece! Something about the chewiness, the slightly sourdough flavor and, of course, cheese add up to great bread! I couldn't walk through the kitchen without grabbing yet another piece. Plus the cheese oozing out of the slashes just looks cool!

This bread is very similar to the soft cheese bread. It has some sourdough starter for flavor enhancement but includes yeast also. I omitted the onions this time since I was serving it to someone who would not appreciate onions. Two cups of flour were replaced with whole wheat flour, 2 T vital gluten added and milk increased by 1/4 cup.

A simple recipe that will appear again to our table.