What would the world do without bread? From the earliest ages the ever popular loaf of bread has dutifully served as staple the world over and centuries later the world still hasn’t had enough, let alone too much. This week two pastry students at Rustenburg’s Academy of Cooking (Mosa Mataboge en Sergio Carollo) are demonstrating how the unassuming loaf of bread can literally light up your festive season when the celebrations have fallen silent.
Cheese and chive pull apart bread
Ingredients:
• 170ml whole milk
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 100g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1½ tsp fine sea salt
• 3 tsp English mustard powder
• 500g strong white bread flour
• 1 x 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
• 4 medium eggs, lightly beaten, plus 1 to glaze oil , for proving
• 250g mature cheddar, grated
• 50g parmesan, grated
• ½ bunch of chives, finely chopped
Method:
Pour the milk into a pan and add the sugar and butter. Warm gently, swirling the pan until the butter has melted. Set aside until lukewarm. Tip the salt, mustard, flour and yeast into a large mixing bowl and stir.
Make a well in the centre, then pour in the beaten eggs and milk mixture. Swiftly mix with a wooden spoon to make a rough dough, then tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes until elastic and springy.
Alternatively, knead in a stand mixer for 7 to 10 minutes using the hook attachment.
Lightly oil a large mixing bowl. Put the dough in the bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel. Leave in a warm place for 1½ to 2 hrs or until doubled in size. Knock the dough back on a lightly floured surface by lightly punching and briefly kneading it. Sprinkle over half the cheese and all of the chives.
Knead the dough until the cheese and chives are well distributed. Divide the dough into 18 equal-sized balls. Pinch the bottoms to create uniform, round balls.
Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and draw a 25cm round template on the parchment (a large dinner plate works well for this).
Arrange the dough balls in concentric circles in the circle you have drawn. Fill each gap with another scattering of cheese. Cover lightly. Leave for 1 to 1½ hrs or until the dough is risen.
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Beat the remaining egg and use to lightly brush the dough balls. Sprinkle over most of the remaining cheese, then bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle over the last of the cheese and bake for 5 minutes more.
Leave to cool a little before serving warm.
Homemade (Almost) Cream Cheese & Roasted Vegetables
For the Homemade (Almost) Cream Cheese:
• 1L full cream milk
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt (taste and add more salt based on your preference)
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1tsp crushed garlic
• Salt, pepper
For the roasted vegetables:
• 125g cherry tomatoes
• 2 sweet peppers
• 3 garlic cloves
• Thyme
• Salt & pepper
• 1/3 cup olive oil
Dip:
In a large pan, add the milk and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once it is boiling, add the lemon juice while stirring. Simmer for 1min until the curds separate from the liquid. Place a strainer with cheesecloth over a large bowl. Pour the curd mixture into the strainer and allow to drain for 10 to 15min. When the curds have drained, transfer curd into a food processor bowl, add yogurt, garlic salt and pepper and process until the curd is soft and creamy. Place in your dip bowl, cover and refrigerate until vegetable are ready.
Roast Vegetable:
Wash and trim tomatoes and sweet peppers. Place vegetables, herbs and garlic in roasting tray. Drizzle with a generous amount and olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper. Roast vegetable for 20min on 230°C.
To finish:
Remove cream cheese dip form refrigerator, drizzle olive oil over dip. Place roast vegetable on top of dip. Serve with bread sticks and fresh bread.
