1 Year of blogging and Cheese bread Gluten free OR regular

I realized today that my 1 year of blogging anniversary came and went. Crazy how fast time flies. My first blog was January 3rd of 2010. 211 recipes later I am still posting. Not bad. I wasn't going for any record or anything. Truth be told I started this so that my daughter would have a copy of all my recipes when she moved out one day. I have horrible handwriting, I type better. So It is much faster for me to type out my recipes as I cook them. I am slowly working my way through my big humungo book that I have been cooking out of since I was young. I probably have posted half of my recipes. I will keep at it.

Today it is 70 degrees, perfect blue sky. I leave my back door open all day so the dogs can go in and out freely. So I turn on my fireplace in the evenings to keep it warm. No sense in having the heat on. The rest of the house stays warm. It is just the back room that gets chilly. I like it. It makes it feel homey.

Taylor has a basketball game tonight. Bummer I did not know this before. Because tonight I am making yummy Cheese bread that is gluten free (but you would never know).

I adapted the bread part from Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalisa Roberts. But the cheese part I have been making for years. For those of you who are not gluten free... simply make your own regular bread, or buy the daily loaf at albertsons or your local bakery, and skip down to the cheesey topping part.


Yeast mixture:
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cup warm water
2 tbsp active dry yeast

Dry ingredients:
3/4 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1 tbsp xanthan gum
1 tbsp flaxmeal
1 tsp pectin
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 400º. Grease french bread pan and dust with cornmeal. Or you can shape foil into individual baguette shapes.

Pour sugar into warm water. Add yeast and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside. The mixture will form a head of foam indicating that the yeast is ready.

Combine dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer Mix on very low speed. Once the dry ingredients are blended together, add the yeast mixture, keeping the mixer on low speed at first to avoid liquids splashing out of the bowl. Increase speed to medium high and add the olive oil, eggs and apple cider vinegar. Mix for 4 minutes in the kitchenaid.

Scoop the dough into prepared pans. 1 cup into each pan. The dough will seem way too soft. Don't worry. This is normal!

Using a pastry brush, brush each loaf with olive oil. The brushing will not only allow you to coat the surface of the loaves with olive oil, but will also allow you to sculpt the dough into more of a french bread looking shape, the scoops of dough melding into each other.

Cover with a towel and place in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.

Just before baking, spray the edge of a serrated knife and using a quick motion, make three diagnoal slits in the top of each loaf. Bake for 40 minutes Periodically, spritz the inside of the oven with water. This will create steam that will help form a nice crust on the bread. Cover for last 10 minutes if crust is getting too well-done.


For the Cheese Topping:

8 oz shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 lb shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp sour cream
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 stick unsalted butter softened

1 In a large bowl, mix together the cheeses and the green onion. Stir in the mayonnaise and sour cream. In a separate small bowl blend the butter and garlic until smooth. Add the butter mixture to the cheese mixture.

2 Preheat broiler. Slice loaf of bread in half horizontally, lay crust side down. Spread cheese mixture over the bread. Place under the broiler until nicely browned, about 3 to 5 minutes.

3 Remove from broiler and let sit for 5 minutes until cool enough to handle. Slice the bread with a bread knife. Serve.