Tabasco Herb Bread
Ingredients:
5 ½ cups bread flour (you can use all purpose flour if that is all you have around the house)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 packages (4 ½ teaspoons) yeast
1 ½ cups hot (120-130 degrees) water
½ cup milk (I like whole milk for this but you can use any kind that is around) at room temperature
14 tablespoons butter (1 stick plus 6 tablespoons) at room temperature
2 eggs at room temperature
4 cloves of minced garlic
3 teaspoons of minced or grated onion (for an extra kick us red onion)
2 teaspoons fresh or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon rubbed sage
½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
Egg wash (1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon of milk)
Baking Pans - 2 8"x4" loaf pans
Method:
In your large mixing bowl or the work bowl of your stand mixer, combine 3 cups of flour, the sugar, the salt, and yeast. Add the hot water, milk and 6 tablespoons of the butter. Using a wooden spoon or the flat paddle attachment of your stand mixer mix them together for one minute.
In a small bowl lightly beat together the eggs, then add them to the batter. Mix vigorously (medium speed on your stand mixer) for 5 minutes. You will know when you are done because the batter will start to pull away from the sides in strings.
Add the rest of the flour half a cup at a time, allowing the flour to be completely absorbed before the next addition. You will now have a shaggy mass that is ready for kneading.
If you are doing this by hand, turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead with a push-turn-fold method for 8 minutes. If the dough is sticky you can give it a couple of shots of flour. When you are done it should be smooth and elastic.
If you are doing this with your stand mixer, switch to the dough hook and knead the dough on a medium low setting for 8 minutes. It should clean the bowl, but if is not, then add a few sprinkles of flour to soak up any extra moisture.
When the dough has been kneaded, place it in a large bowl and pat the surface of the dough with butter. This will keep it from forming a crust as it rises. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until it is has doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
While the dough is rising it is time to make our butter filling. I've found that it is best to get all your ingredients ready then make butter. So start by mincing your garlic. Everyone knows that you can easily peel garlic by placing the flat of a chefs knife on the clove and giving a hit. You can make you mincing much easier by doing it again after you've removed the husk. Just place the flat of the blade over the garlic and give it a strong whack with your fist. It will crush the garlic and make mincing much faster.
For the onion, I like to us a box grater. Use the finest grate there is. Don't use a micro plan grater or you'll wind up with really wet glop. It'll still do the job but it won't provide those little explosions of onion flavor we are looking for.
If you use fresh thyme, you will need to take it off the stems and give it a little bit of a chop to prepare it for the recipe.
In a medium sized bowl cream together the remaining 8 tablespoons (one stick) of butter and the garlic. When the garlic is fully incorporated in the butter, add the onion, thyme, sage, black pepper and Tabasco sauce. Mix for one minute to thoroughly combine. Set the butter mixture aside.
When the dough has risen, turn back the plastic wrap and punch it down. Turn it out onto a floured work surface and knead the dough for 30 seconds to get any air bubbles out.
Divide the dough into two equal portions and form into balls. Cover the dough balls with a clean tea towel and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
To form the loaves, roll out one of the dough balls to a rectangle 8"x12". Take half the butter mixture and spread it over the dough, leaving a 1" strip at the top of the short side. Starting at the bottom of the 8" side, roll the dough tightly. Pinch the seams together tightly. Place the dough in you loaf pan, seam side down and tuck in the ends.
Repeat with the second dough ball.
Cover the pans with a length of wax paper and allow them to rise until they have doubled in volume, about 35 minutes.
Twenty minutes before baking, set a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat it to 350 degrees.
When the dough is risen and the oven is hot, paint the tops of the loaves with the egg wash. Slip the loaves into the oven and bake for 45 minutes.
The loaves will have a lovely brown sheen at this point. Turn one of the loaves out and flick the bottom of it with a forefinger. You should get a nice hard hollow sound. If you do not, return the loaves to he oven for another 10 minutes.
Turn the done loaves out onto a wire rack to cool.
So there you have it Bread Heads, a loaf that will keep your tasetbuds hopping! Just the right thing to serve at a Big Game smorgasbord!
The flour is yours! |
