Herb Bread in Phoenix

It's the winter break time and again I am here in Phoenix with my parents, brother, sister-in-law and my just eight month old niece! Yes.. seems like a family re-union, but I have been to Phoenix so many times this year that it feels home.. but it has always been my home in the U.S.

I had a string of things I wanted to try when I came here, that included a bread. I don't have a cookie tray or a baking pan with me, and there was none of the family to taste my trials. This was a good opportunity. So to just please them, I brought a Dates cake when I came. But then again, the moment I mentioned baking a bread, my SIL and my brother enthusiastically accepted to help me.
To that accord my SIL helped me pick the kind of bread she would like me to bake, and my brother helped with his KitchenAid!


So here is the recipe from www.cookingbread.com that I modfified a little to accomodate for the ingredients that we had at home.

Ingredients -

1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons oil
3-3 1/2 cups flour
1 package dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Filling -

4 tablespoon soft butter
1 large clove garlic cut into very small pieces or minced
1/2 teaspoon dry basil
1/2 teaspoon dry cilantro
4 stems of fresh mint
1 teaspoon salt

Preparation -

Step 1-

* In a KitchenAid mixer, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, yeast, salt and sugar.
* Heat water and oil to 120 F. Add this to flour mixture and combine. We used setting 2 in KitchenAid.
* Gradually add remaining 2 cups of flour and combine/mix for 3 minutes.
* Remove dough from the mixer and knead until smooth about 5 minutes.
* Place dough into a greased bowl, cover allow to rise for about 1 hour.

Step 2-

* Roll dough into a 15x18 rectangle.
* Spread with herb butter filling to within 1 inch of edge.
* Roll the dough making sure to seal the ends.
* Place on a baking sheet. Slash the top several times. Cover and allow to rise until double.

Step 3-

* Bake in preheated 375 for 15 minutes.
* Reduce heat to 350 and continue to bake for 25 more minutes.

This is a nice savory bread. The outer texture is crisp brown, and the inside is soft and kind of pastry flaky. This recipe gave us about 15 slices of 1" thick. Between the 4 adults there is just 2 pieces left in less than 8 hours!!!

Note -

I used garlic in small pieces. Here you will have to bite on the garlic pieces and chew them. There are 2 ways to avoid this -

** you can mince the garlic (or)
** wrap garlic in foil and bake in the oven for a few minutes at 350. Remove from oven and just mince it with a spoon (my SIL suggested this option!)

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