French onion, garlic and cumin bread

1 Loaf

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
3 Bacon strips; chop coarse
1 Onion; peeled, halved sliced 1/8\" thick
8 Garlic Cloves; chopped
⅓ cup Pecans; toasted, chopped
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Black pepper; ground coarse
2 tablespoons Rosemary; chopped
2 tablespoons Cumin seed whole
4 cups Bread Flour
2¼ teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
1 Egg; lightly beaten
½ cup Swiss Cheese; grated
¾ cup Water; at 120 degrees
1 tablespoon Cornmeal
1 Egg; beaten with 1 tsp of water

Directions

GLAZE

In a large frying pan or skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon, onion and garlic until lightly browned and the bacon is crispy. Sir in the pecans, salt, pepper, rosemary and cumin seed. Set aside to cool. In a KitchenAid mixer or by hand: Combine 3 cups of the bread flour and the sauteed onion mixture. Add the yeast, egg and the swiss cheese and combine thoroughly. Add the water slowly until the mixture begins to pull together and forms a ball. If the dough is sticky, add the remaining flour ¼ cup at a time. Knead until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl, then knead for approximately 4 minutes longer if using a KitchenAid, and 8 to 19 minutes if you are doing it by hand. The dough should be smooth and elastic and bounce back when pressed with your finger. Place the dough into a lightly oiled freezer type plastic bag and put in a warm place to double in volume, about 1 hour. Remove the dough from the bag and punch down. Either shape the dough into a round, or use a large bread pan. To do the round, place the dough on a lightly greased baking sheet that has been dusted with the cornmeal. To bake it in the pan, coat the inside with release spray and put the bread into a large 5¾" X 9" X 2 ½" bread pan and push the dough down into the pan making the top level. Make 3 or 4 decorative slashes into the top of the bread and brush with the egg glaze. Allow to rise again, in a warm draft free area until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Place the dough into a preheated 375 degree oven and cook for 35-40 minutes or until the bread is golden and the bottom sounds hollow when taped with your finger (or the dough registers 190 degrees on an instant read thermometer). Place the bread directly on a wire rack to cool. This bread freezes well for 2-3 months if tightly wrapped. To serve, defrost overnight in the foil. To rewarm, place the thawed bread, still wrapped in the foil in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. If reheated in this manner, the bread will retain it's freshly baked qualities.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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