School is up and running full swing again, which means that I am basically ready for Halloween and the Holidays…. so this is a post about a bread that is great for fall. If that’s not your jam yet, visit this post in a month or so when you are craving something to dip in your chili! However, I must say that fall is definitely in the air… there is a hint of a wisp of a suggestion of a nip in the air. I even wore long sleeves to an outdoor concert this weekend.
(That’s me being very hardcore. I bet you didn’t know I was so rock and roll.)
Potentially Offensive Sidebar: I take issue with people who claim that any given day is “too early” for seasons-related joy. Listen. This is the midwest. There’s lots of snow and sleet for many days out of the year. We all work hard at our jobs every durn day. People wake up every day hoping for a little joy and happiness. So what is WITH everybody complaining about Halloween candy being available at Kroger? I’m sorry, but I love those Reese’s cups shaped like jack’o’lanterns, and I’m not embarrassed about it. So if you are ready for fall, go grab those Ugg boots and get yourself to a Starbucks. I heard that pumpkin cream thing is delish. It’s not hurting anybody.
Let’s get back to this here bread, because it is delicious.
A few months ago I was shopping in my favorite Michigan bookstore, Lowry’s, while visiting my parents, and they had this book available:
It had very pretty pictures and lots of recipes that I had never imagined before. Needless to say, I broke my vow of non-cookbook-shopping and purchased it. This is the second recipe I have made from this book, and I must say that I have been very pleased with the format, recipes, outcomes, and pictures in this book. My previous attempt from this book was the cover loaf, a sweet strawberry coconut breakfast bread that was super gooey and delicious. If you are looking to dive into bread and already have a little experience, this might be the book for you, along with the Paul Hollywood collection.
On this occasion, I decided on the onion twist loaf so that I could make something that my man-friend might try, so I could use the cast-iron skillet that mostly just sits in the mysterious drawer at the bottom of the oven, and so that I could get rid of the head of garlic in my cabinet.
Step one: wake up the sleepy yeast. Confession, I think yeast is creepy. I mean, look at these before and after pics. It’s aliiiiiive, eww. I let some sit in some warm water for a few minutes until it got foamy.
I mixed together the dry ingredients (bread flour, sugar, and salt) and beat up some softened butter in the stand mixer for a few minutes. I then added the yeast mixture, eggs, whole milk, and the dry ingredients in stages until a dough formed.
Just thinking about how I used to do all tasks like this makes me feel tired and sweaty. Angie Amos, if you are reading this, your stand mixer gift literally makes my life better every day.
I left the dough to rise in the sun for a few hours while I pretended to do laundry and cruised pinterest for centerpiece ideas. The dough grew quite a bit, which always astounds me, even though I know that’s what is supposed to happen.
I also prepared the filling by wrapping a head of garlic in foil and roasting it in the oven for an hour and cooking down a large onion on the stove for about twenty minutes. If you have never roasted garlic like this, I highly encourage you to try it out. It makes the spicy garlic incredibly sweet… you can honestly just smear it on bread and enjoy. Also, it is strangely satisfying to cut the top off and squeeze the now-soft garlic cloves out. I know, I’m weird.
I let these items cool, and then blitzed them in the food processor with a whole bunch of butter, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, and some thyme leaves. If I make this bread again, I will definitely double down on this filling by using two onions, twice as much parmesan, and adding some rosemary. You could honestly do anything you want, though. This bread would taste really good if you used basil to make a pesto-like filling, used some sun-dried tomatoes, or even red onions with balsalmic vinegar.
The shaping is my favorite part, and that came next:
(Please notice that I am Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger in all of the following photographs.)
I rolled out my dough to a “rectangle” (seriously, who are these people that can turn dough blobs into perfect geometric shapes?) and shmeared it all over with the onion/cheese/garlic/butter mixture. I guess I probably should have trimmed it to make it more professional, but that seems like a waste of dough. Then, I rolled it all up and cut it down the middle like a pair of pants:
These get twisted together and shaped into a ring. You let it rise the second time in the cast iron skillet. Warning, it really takes two people to move it once it is in the ring shape. I had to get my personal photographer to help out.
Another quick sidebar. Sorry, I’m all over the place today. My bestie got me this cat dish to keep my engagement ring in when I am baking, and I can’t quite get over how cute it is. I don’t know if you knew this, but I like cats….
I let it rise for another thirty minutes or so, and then baked in two stages, covering it with foil halfway through to protect the dough while letting the inside bake completely. Please excuse the other casserole dish, that was the chili chicken I was also making for dinner.
This bread was YUM. It went really well with the chicken and salad I made for dinner, and I spent the rest of the week inventing reasons to eat soup so that I could dip this bread in and make it feel like fall!
Last sidebar: if you are looking for ridiculously easy and delicious chicken, get yourself some chicken thighs, put them in a giant ziplock with a bunch of jarred chili sauce, honey, soy sauce, and garlic paste, and let it marinate overnight. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. So good.
