Brotherhood of Bread

The International Union of Bakers and Bakers-Confectioners (UIB) declared October 16th as World Bread Day. I knew about this because about a month ago, I got an e-mail message from Zorra at Kochtoph asking me to participate in an International Bread Day blogging event. I’m as subject to flatery as the next person, and so I had to agree. But what to make?

After a great deal of to-ing and fro-ing, I decided to make toast. But something different in toast.

Late last summer I made some buns for barbeque sandwiches and used bacon grease instead of oil. The experiment was successful producing a light but flavorful bun that stood up well to spices in the barbeque. A month or so later I made a loaf of cheddar cheese bread for sandwiches. It too was a good bread, but I used a recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Bread Bible and I’ve made cheese breads quite a few times in the past, so it didn’t constitute an experiment.

For this event I decided to make a bacon/cheese bread specifically for toasting — but instead of just adding bacon grease to the bread, I chose to add chopped up bacon as well. I settled on a recipe from Jeffrey Hamelman’s Bread book and set out to adapt it to my needs. Here’s what I came up with:

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Bacon/Cheese Breakfast Bread
Makes 1 loaf

1/2 lb bread flour
1/2 lb high-gluten flour
1 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp bacon grease — melted
1/2 lb warm water
6 strips bacon
3 oz gruyere — shredded
1 ea egg (for egg wash)

Cook bacon until done but only about medium crisp (if the bacon is too crisp it will disintegrate when kneaded into the dough). Drain on paper towels and set aside.

Combine flours, yeast sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Combine bacon grease with water and add to flour mixture with motor running at slow. When dough begins to come together, switch to dough hook and continue stirring until a dough ball is created.

Increase speed to medium and knead for seven minutes. Allow dough to rest for 15 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, stretch out the dough into a 12″ – 15″ circle. Chop bacon coarsely and sprinkle over dough. Sprinkle 2/3 of cheese over dough. Fold dough up into a ball, return to stand mixer, and knead another 2 – 3 minutes.

Lightly coat a barge bowl with cooking spray (I usually scraper the dough out onto a floured board, then wash out and dry the mixing bowl). Shape dough into a ball and place in the bowl, lightly spritz top with oil, and cover bowl with plastic. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk — about two hours.

Scrape dough out onto a lightly floured board and shape into a loaf. (Note: this is a stiff dough and is difficult to shape.) Lightly coat a 9″x5″ loaf pan with oil and position dough in pan. Again, lightly spritz top with oil and cover with plastic. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk — about another two hours.

Heat oven to 425F.

In a small bowl, whip together the egg and about a tablespoon of water. Brush on loaf. Sprinkle remaining cheese on loaf. Bake in center of oven for 40 to 45 minutes, rotating front to back half way through.

The bread is excellent. It has a slightly coarse crumb, which is perfect for spreading butter on, and the flavors of the bacon and gruyere are nicely featured. All it needs is a fried egg and it’s a perfect breakfast.

Technorati: Food | recipe | bread | toast | bacon-cheese bread | world bread day ’06

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