Norman's Wednesday night dinner cheese bread

I bake a lot of bread. I don’t think much of it. If I’m making a roast or spaghetti or whatever, I throw ingredients into a bowl and put some bread dough together. There is just something about warm bread, fresh out of the oven, that people love. Of all the breads I’ve made, this is the one that people ask for the most. 

This is my famous cheese bread. Now keep in mind that you can use different cheese too. Provolone, parmesan, swiss, pepper jack or even feta would work. Even just straight cheddar is good. You could also add some cooked Italian sausage with the cheese and call it sausage bread. Or, how about some thinly shaved ham, that can’t be bad. 

4 cups of unbleached bread flour

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/4 of olive oil

2 tbs. instant yeast

2 cups (approximate) of lukewarm water

1/2 lb. shredded mozzarella

1/2 lb. shredded cheddar

Corn meal

Preparation

Place the flour, sugar, salt, olive oil and yeast with most of the water in your stand mixer (by now I am sure you have gone out and purchased one). Mix it all together with the dough hooks until a dough is formed - again, you may have to adjust the amount of flour and water to get the dough right. If you do, don’t complain, just adjust it. 

Let the dough rise for 30 minutes. Make sure your counter is clean and dry. Lightly flour the counter and roll out the dough until a large oval is formed. By large, I mean very large, almost the width of the counter. Spread the cheese evenly over the dough - but have no cheese on the outer two inches of the dough. Fold this outer edge over the cheese. Now gently roll the dough up like you would roll up a carpet. 

Set the rolled up loaf on a cookie sheet that has been sprinkled with corn meal. Allow the loaf to rise for 30 minutes. Bake the loaf for about 30 minutes at 400º, until it is a nice dark brown. Allow the bread to sit for 15 minutes before slicing. 

Serving

Serve this bread with almost any pasta or, how about serving it with roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed vegetables and a crisp salad! Open a good Cabernet Sauvignon and you’re all set. Now that sounds like a meal!