Cornmeal Cheddar Onion Bread

It's a tasty bread, with somewhat limited applications. It makes excellent toast, for example, and a shockingly good toasted cheese sandwich, but sweet applications and peanut butter are pretty much out of the question. It was originally designed as a breakfast bread - something heartier than your average loaf, to stay with you in the morning, but it translates to other meals pretty well. The cornmeal does reduce the amount of glutinous spring in the bread, so untoasted sandwiches can be a touch crumbly, but with a little capicolla and fresh mozzarella...maybe a little basil...it can be a delicious lunch. At mid-day or in the evening, next to a steaming bowl of soup, it holds its own.

Makes 1 loaf

Total prep and cooking time:  2.5 - 3 hours  

In a large mixing bowl, sprinkle the yeast and sugar over the warm water.  Let stand until it gets foamy-looking.

While the yeast is getting foamy, sauté the onion in the olive oil.  It will seem like a lot of olive oil, but go with it - that's how much the bread needs.  When the onion is soft and translucent, remove from the heat and allow it to cool.

Mix the dry ingredients together, including the cheese, in a separate bowl.  It helps to make sure that the strands of cheese are fairly short - this makes it easier to work them into the bread.

Add the beaten egg to the yeast mixture, and then stir in the somewhat-cooled onion and olive oil.  Add a cup of the dry mixture to the wet mixture, and beat with a wooden spoon for about 100 strokes.  This will help get the gluten in the flour forming nice long strands, which will help the overall texture of the bread later.  Add the rest of the dry mixture and stir slowly until it is all incorporated into a nice doughy ball.  If your dough is still quite sticky and wet, dust it with flour.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until it starts to feel like a cohesive bread dough.  This can take up to ten minutes of kneading, and you may need to add a little flour here and there to keep it from sticking to your fingers.  That's okay, but don't get carried away and add so much flour that the bread dough becomes stiff and unyielding.  It should be a slightly soft dough that sags slightly when left on its own.

Place the ball of dough in a lightly oil mixing bowl (I use the same one that I used for mixing the dough, washed, dried, and spritzed with a little canola oil).  Allow the bread to rise, covered, in a draft-free area for 3/4 hour to 1 hour, or until nicely doubled.  Press the air out of it ("punch it down") and shape it carefully into a loaf.  Place in a greased loaf pan, and allow to rise in a draft-free area for about 1/2 hour.  Place in a pre-heated oven at 375 F and let bake for 35 - 40 minutes.  Turn out of the pan to cool on a wire rack.

Always In the Kitchen     © 2003-2008 Dawna L. Read