The Fresh Loaf

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Garlic Breath Bread

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Garlic Breath Bread

This is the first try at a massively garlic bread with cheddar cheese. I got the motivation to try this from Mike Avery who teased me with talk of wonderful flavor.

I started with a AP white bread and added 10% white rye. Other than the olive oil that the garlic gets roasted in there are no other bread additives. The garlic was planned to be 200 grams which would represent 40% bakers percent of the 500 grams of total flour. I weighed out 5 full heads of garlic at 290 grams after cutting the tops off. After roasting and cleaning the paper skins off they weighed at 179 grams so I was a little light on the garlic. % heads and still short, wow! As you can see in the photos, I didn't clean each clove or purchase a bottle of pre cleaned garlic. I had wondered if they would be to mushy doing it this way but it seemed to be a good way to get a bunch of garlic done in a short time. In the end as you can see the cloves were soft enough to easily get them free from the skins with a small spoon when they had cooled enough to handle. The next step was to raise the broiler rack and broil them for a few minutes until they were carmelized on one side. By now the house was filled with the heavenly aroma of roasted garlic. I let the small pan I broiled them in cool with one end elevated so the oil would drain down to one end. I wanted to add the garlic infused oil to the dough before adding the cloves.

Earlier this morning I started a Biga using 300 Grams of the flour mix and 250 grams of room temp water and 1/2 teaspoon of Instant Yeast. That sat on the counter for about10 hours.

I mixed the final dough to 62% hydration and adding the remaining 200 grams of flour. I used the mixer to develop the gluten and then added the oil saved from the roasting pan and kneaded until it was incorporated fully. After resting 20 minutes I stretched the dough out into as large a circle as I could and topped it like a pizza with the garlic and 100 grams of extra sharp cheddar cubed in 1/4- 1/2 inch dimensions. I thought about using a vegetable peeler as had been mentioned elsewhere but I thing the chunks are better for texture internally. I did a book fold, rotated and jelly rolled a couple times while kneading and left it to ferment for 1-1/2 hours where it doubled. Gentle shaping on the counter trying to get the odd escapees to stay under cover, I proofed on a parchment covered sheet pan for 40 minutes.

Into the oven at 450 with steam for 10 minutes and another 25 minutes at 400, rotating in the middle. Internal temp was 205 F.

I had been afraid the cloves would fall apart because I had roasted them in their skins, which they did not. The cloves and cheese were evenly distributed in the crumb much to my surprise. Now that I have had a chance to taste the fruits of my labor, I'm kicking myself for not doubling the recipe. This is really really good. My wife kicked me out of the kitchen as soon as this was done so she could get started on Toll House cookies for our cousin in Afghanistan. If she doesn't try a piece soon, I'll be sleeping on the couch!

I'll post the recipe in normal form in a day or so if anyone wants to try this.

Eric

Dragons Breath CrumbDragons Breath Crumb

Fresh BakedFreshly Baked

After bulk fermentAfter bulk ferment

After BroilingAfter Broiling

Out of the skinsOut of the skins

Ready to clean upReady to roast

umbreadman's picture
umbreadman

Wow, that looks incredible! I can smell it from here....I won't be trying that for a few days because it's final exam time here, but when I do, I want to make ~4lbs worth...

I may or may not be slightly drooling right now....

I have a question about the garlic though. When you roasted it, how did you get them out of the skins without smashing them? Do you only roast them partway? When I do it, they're usually to soft to get out without them turning into goop. Tasty goop, but it's goop, you know? what's your secret?

Congratulations, hope you're not sleeping on the couch 

-Cyrus

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Cyrus I drizzled olive oil over the cut ends and made a loose closed foil packet. Placed the packet on a small roasting pan in a 375 oven for about 20 minutes. when I removed it from the oven and opened it to cool some, I used a baby spoon to gently separate the cloves out of the head. I had thought I would squeeze them out but the spoon was easier and they came out whole as you can see in the image. Then they needed to caramelize under the broiler for a better roasted flavor, for just a few minutes.

It's hard to be objective about this bread. Last night when I was ravaging my 3rd piece, exclaiming how great this is, my wife was giving me that "I think this is a good thing for you and your BIL" look. The flavor is pronounced but not offensive IMHO. Next batch I will use more cheese and try to incorporate it into the dough in the mixer at the end, so it gets more evenly distributed.

Eric

browndog's picture
browndog

In my world there's no such thing as too much garlic.

JMonkey's picture
JMonkey

This loaf has just gone onto my "must bake" list.

bwraith's picture
bwraith

Eric,

That garlic bread looks seriously delicious. Thanks for the photos. It helps to picture what you did to cook the garlic, which looks easier than what I might have otherwise tried to do. I should be able to do something very similar with the garlic in my brick oven as it heats up, first roasting then broiling the garlic as temperature rises, then bake the bread on the way back down.

Bill

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Thanks Bill, jmonkey,

I can now report that it's also great toasted. There is a little something going on that hasn't been mentioned yet with the oil. When I poured the olive oil over the garlic and baked it the flavor passes to the oil. I did add just a little more oil over the top of the cloves so there was about a full Tablespoon of oil to flavor the dough during mixing. You need to be careful not to over do broiling the garlic. It goes bitter pretty quickly as it turns from brown to black. Bitter wouldn't be good.

Eric

 

umbreadman's picture
umbreadman

any salt? Or did you just omit it due to the salt in the cheese being added?

-Cyrus

ehanner's picture
ehanner

I used 10g salt as usual. I did wonder about the salt in the cheese but since it wasn't supposed to fall apart the salt wouldn't get incorporated into the dough, so I forged ahead as normal.

Eric

naschol's picture
naschol

Wow!  I am holding my breath for the full recipe!  It looks great and my son will just be in heaven (he is a true garlicaholic).

 

Nancy

tattooedtonka's picture
tattooedtonka

The photos of the Garlic look awesome.  Im with browndog on this one, there is never too much garlic.  Great looking loaf Eric.... I'll give this one a try for sure..

TT

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Hey TT, good to see you out!

It is a tasty loaf and very full of that earthy garlic flavor. I have noticed that people don't stand around to chat as much recently. Starting to think it was my powerful personality! I'll bet this would be good with some of that good Cedar Creek (?) sharp cheddar or Herkimer Valley.

So what have you been baking lately?

Eric

tattooedtonka's picture
tattooedtonka

Lately been baking dozens of bagels.  Took me about 4 or 5 dozen just to get them back to the results I used to have.  Breadwise I have been baking mainly crusty French breads (batards and boulles).  They are the families favorites.  Some pan style sandwich breads, nothing glamorous.  But tasty! 

I will see if I can get this one in this weekend, I love garlic and cheese.  Have you ever had pickled garlic?  Some places sell them in the cheese area of the store.  I found a spicy garlic, not sure the brand, but oh my, I eat about 10-15 cloves in a sitting.  After it is pickled it is not like eating raw garlic.  It is much milder, a little softer, but still has some crunch.  It is very nice with some sharp chedder and a good pepperoni.

TT

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Now that sounds good. I don't recall seeing that in my travels. I'll have to explore for that. I'm on a quest to find a decent pepperoni for pizza also. The junk they sell in the super is tasteless like salty cardboard. I even broke down and bought some turkey peperoni last week, mostly out of respect for jmonkey and his pizza postings. Good but still not outrageous.

I have made bagels about 4 times in my life. I don't remember when the last time was and no one else around here can either which tells you something about how good they were. One of these days I'll get the courage to tackle that firm doughnut again.

I'll bet that pickle garlic would be good on Limburger with a big slice of onion in a sandwich!

Cheers
Eric

umbreadman's picture
umbreadman

My parents used to pickle their own garlic, and it would turn out absolutely delicious. I should ask them how to do it, but we would take them out (i think it takes at least 6-8 months for it to fully pickle...) and they would be just like you say: soft, sweet, still a little spicy. I think you have to have a clean jar, filled with garlic and any other spices/seasonings and covered with vinegar. I also think it needs to stay in the dark...

I think I have a new project! Pardon my rambling posts...

PS My garlic/cheese/herb bread is in the oven as we speak. I added parmesan cheese, oregano, and rosemary. It smells gooooooooood. 

-Cyrus

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Ramble away Cyrus, and let us know what you find out. Those old treats need to be preserved.

Eric

KipperCat's picture
KipperCat

The garlic clove in the bottom of a jar of dill pickles (cucumbers) has long been a favorite.  I've never seen the garlic pickled by itself - will have to have a look.

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Search for pickled garlic and find lots of stories. I must be leading a sheltered life having not thought about this in the past. Sounds good and totally new way with a different flavor to eat this healthy treat!

Eric

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Honestly I never did actually make a recipe for this. I have made it a half dozen times from a basic Pain au Levain adding the mashed garlic and shredded cheese after the dough is developed. I found the mashed roasted garlic was way better than the whole cloves. Also I usually use cheddar and Parmesan cheese. The Cheddar gets chunked into 1/4 inch cubes and the parm is shredded.

Let us know if you try it.

 

Eric

Porkbutter's picture
Porkbutter

I tried this idea this week using PR's "Lean Bread" from Artisan breads everyday as I was making already. I roasted 4 heads of garlic (a bit too long; they were too mushy) and some sharp cheddar (not weighed). I flattened the dough, spread the garlic and cheese, then folded and jelly rolled it. 

Delicious flavor, but it was definitely a bit soggy internally. The center to the bottom of the loaf stayed too moist, with not much rise to it. The upper portions rose nicely. Maybe it was the mushiness of the garlic that caused this. I'm going to try it again but instead of roasting the garlic; I'll cook them gently in olive oil in a skillet until toasted. This should dry out some of the excess moisture and add some caramelization also. It will leave me with some nice garlic oil as well.

Walking around with garlic on my taste buds is a good thing, even if nobody wants to talk to me too closely...

l

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven