Cheese Bread

One of the reasons why I like visiting food blogs is that they inspire me to stretch my boundaries. Bread is something that I've never really explored that much at all as I used to think that it's just too darn troublesome to do it all by hand without a bread maker. I guess, as "time and blogs" went by, I began to be more enlightened about the adventure of bread making.

This recipe below has been sitting on my mind lately as my sister who really likes making bread had tried it and said that it is a wonderful recipe. So, with all the inspiration and encouragement, I decided to try it and here it is.

It is fluffy & soft, with bits of melted cheddar cheese, butter & aromatic oregano embedded in the bread. I love the smell of dried herbs and this recipe was just great for me.

Recipe:
(A)
320 g bread flour
80 g plain flour
20 g sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsps instant yeast
(B)
220 ml cold milk
1 egg
(C)
30 g butter
(D)
30 g cubed cheddar cheese
30 g roasted nibbed almonds
Dried oregano
(E)
20 g nibbed almonds
20 g cubed cheddar cheese
(F)
3 cheddar cheese slices
Dried oregano
Dried parsley

Steps:
1. Mix (A) till well blended. Add (B) to form a dough.
2. Add (C) and knead to form a smooth and elastic dough (Here, I used a hand mixer with dough hook to rub in the butter more evenly. Oh! how I wish I had a hands-free stand mixer!)
3. Cover in a clean plastic bag and let it prove for 45 mins. Then, divide into 2 equal portions, mould into balls and leave to rest for 10 mins.
4. Roll the dough flat into rectangles and spread dots of soft butter on them, then sprinkle with (D).

5. Roll the rectangles up like a swiss rolls, then cut each dough into 3 pieces and place them in 2 greased paper-lined rectangle pans, with cut side facing up. Cover and let it prove for another 45 mins.

6. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with (E) on top. Bake at 190 deg C for 23 mins
7. Take out the loaves from the oven and quickly place cheese slices and herbs from (F).
8. Bake for another 7 mins. Unmould immediately.

Notes:
- I made only half of the recipe above to get 1 loaf, thus did not divide the dough to 2 equal portions as mentioned on step 3.
- The top crust of my bread had burnt slightly due to the cubed cheese being sprinkled earlier on (step 6). I would suggest omitting this and just put more slices of cheddar cheese as guided by step 7.

Slice the loaf and have them by dipping in a bowl of spicy chicken curry. Yummy!

Have a great week ahead!