After staring at the screen for much too long (not the whole two weeks since the last time I posted, but at least some portion of it), I’ve determined that I just can’t think of anything all that notable to say about 17-19: Parmesan Bread. I’ve even made it once before, despite the lack of notations or photographic evidence. It’s just not what I hoped it could be.
The first time I made this bread, it turned out (somewhat) like the one shown in the Simply Delicious picture. This time, it turned out more like savory, vaguely cheesy monkey bread.
If you definitely want yours to turn out more like their picture, go with the method mentioned in the Tips section–rolling the dough into balls didn’t end up with the balls fusing together for me. If you want a loaf that pulls apart into individual rolls, the ball method might be worth trying.
Ingredients. Using shredded Parmesan cheese might have made a difference in cheesy flavor, but I doubt it.
Melting butter in my ancient stove-top butter melter.
Heated the milk in the microwave (in a measuring cup) and mixed it with the yeast & other ingredients.
Rolled it into a somewhat-dry ball to rise.
After almost an hour it rose some, but not that much.
Rolled out the balls–I might have rolled them a little too tight to bind together. What can I say, I like a nice crust on the bread.
Brushed the bottom layer with melted butter.
Stacked the rolled balls as instructed, sprinkled the loaf with oregano and Parmesan cheese and stuck it in the oven.
Got a bit more color than I would have liked, while not cooking the bottom layer thoroughly.
They did make decent rolls though. After eating the top layer, I stuck the bottom (undercooked layer) back in a heated oven for a few minutes to finish cooking them. If I did this bread again, I’d definitely add more seasoning (they were bland, like a lot of recipes in this book) and do it either as full on rolls (all separate) or as a solid loaf.
Grade: B
