Jalapeño Cheese Bread
Today's bake: Jalapeño Cheese Bread
Source: Sourdough Recipes for Rustic Fermented Breads Sweets, Savories, and More - Sarah Owens
Note: Use baking sheets to catch the inevitable melted cheese.
Substitutions: Substituted Bloody Butcher Corn for Corn Meal.
Discussion: This is another delightful bread from Sarah Owens. I roasted the jalapeños on my grill with hickory wood which added a nice smoky flavor to the peppers. The coarse grind of the durum and corn meal add a nice texture to the crumb and crust. The crumb is nice and soft and the taste of the cheddar cheese and jalapeños are predominant.
Make again? - Yes, definitely.
Changes/Recommendations: The cheese pieces were a little large as can be seen in the crumb photo. I thought I'd diced the cheese pretty small but next time I'd make them pea-sized. Prior to roasting, cut the peppers in half length-wise then scrape the seeds out.
Ratings:
Tony
Comments
Great looking loaves, Tony! I've been using shredded cheese in my cheddar loaves, and have thought about doing a mix of both shredded and very small dice. Would be interesting to have a variety of cheese sizes (I think?)
I am just waiting on my jalapenos to finally ripen so I can make some Jalapeno/Cheddar!! Thanks for posting.....bookmarked!
Rich
Thanks Rich,
Mix it up I say! A variety of cheeses and peppers, a little or a lot depending on your tolerance for heat. Some time ago WF was selling a large variety of peppers and I got into blending, hence the list name/scoville units ...
Tony
My Serranos didn't take this year, but I have some Sugar Rush Peach, Golden Ghostly (jalapeno variety), and Poblano going, too. I also have a Bhut Jolokia cross that tops out at about 1,000,000 on the Scoville scale......I've typically dried these, made powder (while wearing GOOD breathing protection) and use it VERY sparingly as a heat addition to many spice blends. :) I don't think I'll be making a Lava loaf with that one, but the others would be nice as single varieties, or blends!
Rich
I'm jealous. In my next home I'll have to grow some, for now I'm at the mercy of the local stores.
Tony
They looks delicious Tony, the crust especially. I had the same issue when I did a cheese loaf before with huge caverns where the cheese cubes were. I think I’d shred the cheese in the future to avoid those large voids.
Benny
It is tasty. I'll have to give these another go soon with grated cheese.
Tony
I love the flavor combo. This would be excellent brushed with olive oil and grilled. The cornmeal must add a nice flavor as well. I think you’re right if you cut the cheese smaller it will solve your caverns issue. If you shred it tends to melt into the crumb and you lose the effect.
Best,
Ian
Thanks Ian
Good advice on the cheese, Rich also suggested grating the cheese.
Tony
I found a crumb pic of my Cheddar/Thyme with grated cheese from a few weeks back. While I agree with Ian that there's a difference between cubes (small dice or bigger?) and grated, you can see from this pic that the cheese is still evident.
Rich - thanks for the photo. It looks like you still get some small pockets of cheese which is nice.
Tony