I love to bake. Anyone who's been around me enough knows that I get a lot of enjoyment out of it. I especially love to make breads. Many people that cook - even people that love to bake - then to shy away from yeast breads. Sometimes because they feel it's too time consuming or they are just plain intimidated.
Bread making is really not as complicated as it may seem and, once you have been doing it for a while, is not all that time consuming. If you have a good stand mixer - it does most of the heavy work for you. I have a commercial-grade, 6 quart mixer that will handle up to 14 cups of flour at a time. I'm posting the recipe based on the bread making instructions for my mixer, but it can easily be tailored according to your mixer's specs/directions - or even for making it by hand.
I often bake breads (of different types) ahead and stock my freezer with them. If you wrap them air-tight, they can be kept up to 3 months in the freezer. When you want to use it, pull it out of the freezer, leave it wrapped and let it sit on the kitchen counter to thaw.
I made a hearty beef stew for dinner last night and was trying to think of a nice bread to go along with it. I scoured my bread recipes and finally decided to start with an old stand-by and modify it with flavors that would best accompany the stew. The result was a nice herb and cheese braid. If you don't want to make braids, you can most likely form this as a regular loaf also. This recipe will make 2 braids or 2 loaves.
ITALIAN HERB AND CHEESE BREAD
4 1/2 to 5 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 pkg. rapid-rise yeast (or 2 1/2 teaspoons jarred yeast)
3/4 to 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 teaspoons dried Italian herbs
1/4 cup water
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, cut into 8 tablespoons pats
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon water
Additional herbs
In mixer bowl, combine 3 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt, yeast, Parmesan cheese and herbs. Attach dough hook and mix for 2 minutes until combined.
In a saucepan combine water, milk and butter. Heat over medium-low heat until 110 to 115 degrees.
Turn mixer to 'kneading' speed (on mine that's 2) and gradually add liquid to dry ingredients, mixing until well-blended. Add eggs, one at a time and continue mixing until blended. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a smooth dough is formed and it cleans the sides of the bowl (I find that I usually only need approximately 1 cup of the remaining flour). Knead dough as per your mixer's instructions.
Place dough in a well-greased bowl, turning dough over to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk (depending on the temperature of your kitchen - 30 to 60 minutes).
Punch down dough. On a lightly floured surface, divide dough in half. Working with one half at a time, divide dough into 3 pieces and roll each piece into a 14 inch rope. Braid three ropes, pinching ends to seal. Gently rock braid back and forth on surface to 'tighten'. Place on greased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk (30 to 60 minutes).
After second rise, preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, beat egg yolk and water. Brush each braid and sprinkle with additional herbs. Bake on center rack in oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until done.
Immediately remove from baking sheets to wire racks to cool.
