The Delicious Lesson

Ok, I'm not going to call today's bread making experience a failure, I'm calling it a delicious lesson. Delicious in that the flavor was amazing! The lesson...? Use the right amount of yeast (in this case), and other ingredients when creating and using a recipe. That being said, here's what I did today:

My Own Cheesy Garlic Herb Bread

This failure....I mean LESSON, was a recipe I created from my head, after looking at another "Cheesy Bread" recipe. I knew what I wanted, a real garlicky bread that I could make to go with my spaghetti. I wanted to incorporate a lot of Italian herbs, and my wife wanted the cheese. So this is the recipe I came up with.

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cup warm water

1 Tbl. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/3 cup fresh chopped garlic (about one fist)

1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1-1/2 Tbl. sugar

3/4 tsp. sea salt (course)

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried rosemary

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. dried thyme

1 Tbl. dried chopped onion

2-1/2 cups bread flour

1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

Cooking Directions:

I added the dried herbs, salt and onion to the warm water and evoo in the bread maker pan. I then added the chopped garlic and cheese. On top of that I added the flour, followed by the yeast.

The bread machine was set for a 1-1/2 lb. regular bread with light crust. And the machine was started. It said that I would be enjoying my wonderful garlic bread in a little over 3 hours. So I went on about my business. In a short time, I was smelling the aroma of the fragrant herbs, garlic, and fresh bread wafting through the air. It was bliss! It was about 2 hours into the process, and I peered into the bread maker through the small viewing window. It was . . . What was it? It looked like it hadn't risen at all! O.M.G. I didn't use enough yeast! The last two breads I made I put 2 tsp. in each! Why did I only put in 1/4 tsp.? Oh well, too late to add it now. Hopefully it will still TASTE alright!

But it sure doesn't LOOK alright!

 

My Impression of the Finished Bread:

Lesson noted, and hopefully learned. It DID have a wonderful flavor. Actually kind of overpowered my spaghetti sauce! :) Since it didn't rise like it should have, it was slightly under-cooked in the center. But NEXT time it will be perfect! Or at least different!

Until next time, Happy Baking! And be sure to tell all your friends about my blog!

Jerry (the guy unafraid to post his failures err... Lessons learned, online!)