Provencal Cheese And Herb Bread Recipes

Steps:

• Mix yeast, warm water, and white sugar together in a large bowl. Set aside for five minutes, or until mixture becomes foamy.
• Stir olive oil, salt, herbs, garlic powder, onion powder, cheese, and 3 cups flour into the yeast mixture. Gradually mix in the next three cups of flour. Dough will be stiff.
• Knead dough for 5 to 10 minutes, or until it is smooth and rubbery. Place in an oiled bowl, and turn to cover the surface of the dough with oil. Cover with a damp linen dish towel. Allow to rise for one hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
• Punch dough down to release all the air. Shape into two loaves. Place loaves on a greased cookie sheet, or into two greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about a 30 minutes.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 minutes. Remove loaves from pan(s), and let cool on wire racks for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Steps:

• Stir the sugar and yeast into the water, and set aside for 10 minutes to dissolve.
• Put the olive oil and salt in a large mixing bowl, and add the yeast mixture.
• Beat in 1-1/2 cups/285 g of the flour, until smooth, along with the herbs.
• Work in the remaining cup/125 g flour, turning it onto the countertop to knead, until you have smooth, springy dough, 10 to 15 minutes. (I found 15 minutes yeilded a much better bread than 10 minutes).
• Cover with a tea towel and set in a warm place to rise to double, about 45 minutes.
• Punch the dough down and shape into a loaf. (I shaped mine into a ball by pressing the dough slightly flat, folding in the corners, pinching them together and then flipping the ball over with the pinched corners on the bottom. I then made three long slices in the top for steam to escape. This is how Laura did it on the show.).
• Let rise again 30 minutes (or not), and bake at 400ºF/200ºC for 25 minutes until done. I brush the loaf with an egg/milk wash before I bake it, but it's not necessary. The wash is 1 yolk beaten with a tablespoon or two of milk. You can also spray the loaf lightly with water, or put a pan of boiling water in the oven to give the bread a crispy crust.
• Let the bread cool a little before slicing to serve.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Sprinkle yeast over 1/4 cup of the warm water (105 degrees) in a glass measuring cup; stir in 1 teaspoon of sugar. Let stand for 10 minutes; mixture will be foamy.
• In a large bowl, stir together 3 1/4 cup flour, salt, rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano, sage, pepper and remaining 1 teaspoon sugar.
• Pour yeast mixture into flour mixture. Add remaining 1 cup warm water and the olive oil, stir to form a ball. Mix in 3/4 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese.
• Turn onto a well-floured surface. Knead for 10 minutes, adding additional flour as needed until dough is smooth and elastic.
• Grease large bowl with a little additional olive oil. Place dough in bowl and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in size. Punch dough down.
• Roll out dough into a 20 x 8-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Roll up from a short side. Fold ends under loaf and place seam side down in a greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 5/8 - inch loaf pan. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for an additional hour.
• Brush top of loaf with the egg wash. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Bake for 35 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan to rack. Cool.