A cheese plate is a wonderful dessert. But if all the cheese isn't eaten, then the cooks is left with end pieces of hacked-into cheese wedges. And at prices up to $17/pound, good cheese is certainly nothing to throw away. Even grocery cheese is nothing to be discarded callously.
So what's a cook to do? One alternative is to make a cheese sauce, pour it over pasta, and create a unique Macaroni and Cheese. Or bake cheese bread. No matter what cheeses are used, cheese bread is always delicious and an ideal complement to a home-made soup.
Choosing Cheese for Cheese Bread
A basic loaf of bread makes the ideal canvas for cheese bread. It has a neutral flavor that supports a varied palate of cheeses; here are some tips for choosing cheeses:
- Use either relatively hard cheeses, or a combination of soft and hard cheeses (for example, brie and cheddar). Using all soft cheeses tends to make the bread mushy.
- Shredded, grated, or cubed cheeses all work, but cubed pieces have the advantage of staying intact, providing bursts of cheese flavor when eaten.
- Some cheeses, especially the blue cheeses and very aged cheeses, have flavors that can overwhelm mild cheeses like Monterey Jack or Muenster. Therefore, if the cook is looking for a varied cheese flavor, pair blue cheese with other assertive cheeses. However, it is perfectly acceptable to use just one cheese.
Adding Cheese to the Bread
There are three common ways to add cheese to bread:
If the recipe is a quick bread, (i.e. a batter, not a yeast-risen bread), then stirring the cubes into the batter will effectively distribute the cheese bits.
If the bread is a yeast-risen bread, there are two approaches:
- Knead the cheese in. This can be time consuming and runs the risk of not distributing the cheese evenly. Use this technique if the bread is hand-kneaded and the cook can redistribute bits of loose cheese.
- Before the second rising, roll the bread out into a flat rectangle, sprinkle the cheese over the dough, and roll the dough up like a carpet. This is the easiest approach and ensures even distribution.
Soft Cheese Bread
This recipe following is based on the Soft Cheese Bread recipe from Peter Reinhart's new book Artisan Breads Every Day, (see the review). This is a basic version; Reinhart includes a number of variations, including forming different shapes, make-ahead directions, and the addition of onions or chives. He also calls for either water or beer; the beer does add a lot of flavor so this variation calls for it.
Ingredients
- 6 1/4 cups unbleached bread flour
- 2 teaspoons table salt
- 5 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 cup lukewarm beer (or water)
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm buttermilk (or other type of milk)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast
- 1/4 cup melted butter (or vegetable oil)
- 2 1/2 cups grated, shredded, or cubed cheese
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and sugar together. Separately, combine the water and buttermilk and whisk in the yeast until dissolved. Pour the mixture and the melted butter into the dry ingredients.
- Using the mixer's paddle attachment, mix the dough on the lowest speed for 2 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, switch to the dough hook, and mix on medium-low speed for 3 minutes. The dough should be soft, supple, and tacky, but not sticky. Add more flour or water if needed.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Form the dough into a ball and place it in a clean, lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap; let rest at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes until doubled in size.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and divide into 2 equal pieces. Dust each piece with flour and use a rolling pin to roll each piece into a 8" by 12" rectangle. Spread half of the cheese cubes over the surface of one rectangle and roll the dough up, from the bottom to the top, to form a log. Seal the seam and place into a greased 4 1/2- by 8-inch loaf pan. Repeat with the second piece of dough.
- Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap, then let the dough rise at room temperature for about 90 minutes, until the dough has domed about 1 inch above the rim.
- Fifteen minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Poke through the top crust in a few spots with a skewer or toothpick.
- Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, then rotate the pans and bake for another 25 minutes. Check the bread; it's done when it's a deep golden brown and the internal temperature is above 185 degrees.
- Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack for an hour before slicing.
Lindsay McSweeney - I am a 50 plus professional editor, wife, and mother. I've written and edited food articles professionally, and am currently managing a ...
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