Braided Herb Bread

Brooke and I made this yeast bread and I have to tell you - this turned out amazing! We surprised ourselves :). After watching Brooke make more slime (the kid is obsessed) and kneading it just like you do when making bread I asked if she'd ever made yeast bread before...nope - so I found this recipe in a Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook and she was game to try it. So so good!

Focaccia Tiles

I made this for Thanksgiving along with the crescent rolls (click here for that post) and forgot to show you how it turned out. At first I thought this was a "fail" because I baked it too long, but turns out it still tasted good and is pretty so I'll pass the recipe along if you want to try it. As usual it's much easier to make than I anticipated, yeast bread is still intimidating to me but the more I make it the more I realize it's pretty easy.

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• warm water
• olive oil
• toppings such as toasted pumpkin seeds, oil-packed dried tomatoes, pitted olives, thinly sliced limes, and/or thinly sliced roma tomatoes
• seasonings such as smoked paprika, ground cumin, oregano, or sea salt

1. In large bowl combine 3 cups of the flour, the yeast, and salt. Add 1 2/3 cups warm water (120' to 130'F). Stir until all is moistened. The mixture will be a soft, sticky dough. Cover and let stand at room temperature 12 to 24 hours.

2. Line a 15x10x1" baking pan with parchment paper. Brush parchment with olive oil. With a fork, stir remaining 1 cup flour into the dough. Turn dough out into prepared pan. Using well-oiled hands or a rubber spatula, gently push dough into pan (dough will be sticky). Loosely cover; let rest for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until puffy.

3. Preheat oven to 400'. Using a sharp, floured knife, score dough into 6 portions. Gently press desired toppings into surface of dough. Brush lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle with desired seasonings. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.

4 Transfer to wire rack. Cut into 6 tiles. Serve warm.

Makes 6 tiles, 12 servings. each serving 212 cal, 6g fat.

Prep: 20 min.

Rise: 1 hour

Bake: 30 minutes

Stand: 12 hours

Before baking. Next time I will put way more seasonings on!
And don't bake it so long - watch for it to just start to turn
golden brown. Oh, and I scored mine into 8 squares so I could
try more toppings!

Georgian Cheese Bread

This recipe has been in my file of things I want to try at some point since I ripped it out of a Gourmet magazine in 2008, 'bout time I made it! Made this to go with the Chicken Marsala Sunday Supper (click here for that post) and it was excellent. Yes, it's a yeast bread and yes, that always seems hard and intimidating to me too - but it's easy!! I followed the recipe exactly (surprise!) and the only change I will make in the future (other than making a double batch that is) is to season the top with salt and pepper (or any spices that sound good) after brushing it with butter right before it's finished baking. That might not make it "Georgian Cheese Bread" anymore but it would taste really good.

one big ball of cheese goes in the center, gather the dough up around it and
then roll it out so the cheese get's distributed thru out.

before baking cut an x in the top

I'm surprised to find that the recipe is online in Gourmet's archives - click here to go to the original source (I copied and pasted the recipe for you below).

But first watch this short video of what happens when Janis offers to slice the bread with my pizza cutter :)

YIELD

Makes 1 (11-inch) pie; serves 8

ACTIVE TIME

30 min

TOTAL TIME

4 hr

INGREDIENTS

1. • 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (a 1/4-ounce package)
   • 7 tablespoons warm water (105-115°F)
   • 1 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, divided
   • 3/4 teaspoon salt
   • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
   • 1/4 pound Havarti cheese, coarsely grated
   • 1/4 pound salted mozzarella, coarsely grated
   • 1 teaspoon unsalted butter, melted
2. Equipment:
   • a floured pizza pan (at least 12 inches) or a floured large baking sheet
3. PREPARATION

1. 1. Sprinkle yeast over warm water and stir in 1 tablespoon flour. Let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes. (If yeast does not activate, start over with new yeast.)
   2. Stir together salt and remaining flour in a large bowl, then stir in egg and yeast mixture to form a dough.
   3. Turn out dough onto a well-floured surface and turn to coat with flour, then knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form into a ball and dust with flour. Let dough rest in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap, punching down with a wet fist every hour, at least 2 hours and up to 3.
   4. Preheat oven to 500°F with rack in middle.
   5. Turn out dough onto floured pizza pan, turning to coat, then flatten with your fingers into a 7-inch disk.
   6. Toss together cheeses and press into a compact 3-inch ball with your hands. Place ball in middle of dough, then gather dough up around ball of cheese, squeezing excess dough into a topknot. Press down on topknot with a damp fist to press cheese out from center. Continue to flatten dough and distribute cheese evenly, pressing outward from center, until dough is an 11-inch disk.
   7. Cut a 6-inch X through top of dough to expose cheese. Bake until pale golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Brush surface of dough with butter and bake until golden and cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes more.
   8. Serve cut into wedges.

Cooks' note:

• Dough can be made 1 day ahead and chilled in bowl (for a slow rise), covered with plastic wrap. Punch down and bring to room temperature before proceeding with recipe.