Give me bread.

September 11, 2010 4:58 AM

I love to bake bread and need more recipes. EXOTIC recipes.

I seriously enjoy everything related to baking bread, the mixing, the kneading, the smells that fill the house and even waiting the yeast to take and the dough to rise.

But I'd like more recipes and, in fact, what might be called exotic recipes, recipes that incorporate strange and unusual ingredients.

Banana bread, onion bread, I'm sure they are just the start - what else I can put into bread?

posted by Mutant to food & drink (25 answers total)

Try walnut and/or pitted, sliced black olives. Also anise seed for flavoring.
posted by Dr Dracator at 5:32 AM on September 11, 2010

Smitten Kitchen has a post for grape rosemary focaccia. http://smittenkitchen.com/
posted by littleflowers at 5:47 AM on September 11, 2010

This recipe calls for "bread mix" but my mother always made malu paan from scratch. Basically, they're bread rolls that are not-quite-filled with a fish and potato curry mixture, and we grew up experiencing all of breadmaking's aniticipatory joys as the malu paan was prepared on the special occasions when my mum had the time to make it. I don't know if there's a techical name for the dough, but I'd describe it as Basic White Bread dough - it's the curry that's added that makes the dish really special.
I can get the all-steps-including-the-bread-making-included recipe from my mum. Fee free to memail me if you're interested
posted by bunglin jones at 5:54 AM on September 11, 2010

The Fresh Loaf has a huge variety of recipes, including the most exotic I've ever seen. Really, it's the best place for bread of any type on the internet.
posted by smoke at 5:54 AM on September 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

the kneading, ... waiting the yeast to take and the dough to rise.

...

Banana bread...

You know that banana bread is a 'quick' bread, right? There is no kneading, yeast or dough. Just mixing up a batter and baking it.

Are you looking for quick breads as well as yeast breads, or just yeast breads?
posted by marsha56 at 5:55 AM on September 11, 2010

I am going to pitch some books at you at will provide international, exotic bread action at you.
Try Daguid and Alford's Flatbreads and Flavors and Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour and Traditions from Around the World The recipes can be done at home and incorporate a world of flavor and technique.

I have used both books extensively and they are great and reliable.
posted by jadepearl at 6:35 AM on September 11, 2010

I'm a big fan of this Bittersweet Chocolate Apricot Challah.

Oh, and if you're going to make banana bread, get the Cook's Illustrated recipe. It uses some clever techniques to cram in 6 bananas without losing the classic banana bread texture.
posted by jedicus at 8:04 AM on September 11, 2010

I've been making this pita bread and this babka with awesome results.

Here are a few of my mom's recipes.

Irish Soda Bread

3 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
¼ cup butter
1 well beaten egg
1 ½ cups of butter milk (I use milk soured with vinegar)
1 ½ cups raisins or currants
1 ½ tsp of caraway seeds

Combine first five dry ingredients. Rub butter into flour mixture. Add well beaten egg, milk, raisins and caraway seeds. Mix thoroughly. Place in well greased skillet – crosscut the top. Bake in a preheated oven for about 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Bolso
Bread for bolso:

1 package yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/3 cup dry milk
1 tablespoon honey or sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter
3 3/4 cups unbleached white flour or whole wheat if preferred

Dissolve yeast in warm water (about body temperature). Stir in dry milk, sweetening, salt and butter. Add a couple cups of flour and blend thoroughly, beating until the mixture is elastic. Fold in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough, then knead several minutes, using more flour as necessary. Let rise 45-60 minutes.

Filling for bolso:

1 egg
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
3/4 cups sliced green olives
1 pound ricotta cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
2-3 teaspoons minced fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Black pepper, freshly ground, to taste
1 or more cloves garlic

Beat the egg. Mix in the grated cheese and sliced olives. Blend in the ricotta cheese and season with the remaining ingredients. Use 3-4 tablespoons per pocket.

(At this point the recipe mentions the optional ingredients, including sun dried tomatoes, roasted peppers, nicoise olives, and other cheeses including feta. It mentions some cheeses have a higher salt content and the recipe may need to be adjusted to compensate for that).

Divide the dough into 12 pieces and roll each piece into a rectangle or circle. Mound some filling on half the dough, then fold dough over and seal the edges together.

Place on a greased baking sheet, then let rise for 20 minutes. Brush with an egg wash (one egg beaten with a couple tablespoons water or milk) and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until golden brown.

English Muffin Bread

This is the bread I make most often, simply because it's easy and incredibly fast. And EFFING DELICIOUS.

6 cups all purpose flour
2 packages active dry yeast
1 tbs sugar
2 tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
2 cups milk (or 2/3 cup dry milk powder and 2 cups of water)
½ cup water

Place yeast and sugar in bowl then add ½ cup water. Let it rest about 5 minutes – mixture should start to bubble a little. Warm up the milk in the microwave - not too hot - baby bath water temp. Add flour and remaining ingredients and mix with a heavy duty mixer or by hand for about 5 minutes. Dough will be sticky.

Place dough into bread pans that have been greased and sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise for about 45 minutes. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes. Remove from pans immediately and cool.

Enjoy hot out of the oven or slice & toast.

I think it's best toasted.
posted by punchtothehead at 8:15 AM on September 11, 2010 [3 favorites]

Anchovy bread?

I bet you could bake caramelized onions into the top of it, I bet you could eat it with a salad with blue cheese and pear, and a glass of red wine, and it would be delicious.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 8:15 AM on September 11, 2010

Correcting smoke's The Fresh Loaf link, which is awesome...
posted by benzo8 at 8:33 AM on September 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

I made these recently - they're weird, tasty, and gluten-free, which is awesome if you have friends who can't enjoy the fruits of your hobby.
posted by restless_nomad at 9:05 AM on September 11, 2010

Check out breadworld.com. They've got great recipes like Almond Amaretto Bread, Asiago Bacon Breakfast Bread, Candy Cane Holiday Bread, Caramelized Onion Garlic Bread, Fresh Bread Bowls, Hero Loaf, Reuben Loaf, Chocolate Almond Panettone, or my favorite - Holiday Treasures.

Happy Baking!
posted by garnetgirl at 9:13 AM on September 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Ms. Vegetable found
cardamom bread VERY tasty.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 10:56 AM on September 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Seconding the Smitten Kitchen's rosemary/grape focaccia, I made it last night and it was AWESOME.

Do you have a sourdough starter? It's a REALLY nice thing to have hanging around and can really open up a new world of bread. If you do have one or decide to make one, I love this Sun Dried Tomato Sourdough.
posted by Saminal at 11:00 AM on September 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Panera breads has a recipe for Three Cheese Bread with honey. The cheeses are Romano, Parmesan and Asiago.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 11:05 AM on September 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Beer bread is a quick bread (no yeast, no rising) but its great for a weekday meal, and it smells (and tastes!) awesome. If you google around, there are a million variations with different beer types like pumpkin beer and ingredients like cheese mix-ins.
posted by fermezporte at 12:05 PM on September 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Whole marinaded Camembert baked in bread. I saw Jean-Christophe Novelli make this on TV a few weeks ago and it looked insanely good.
posted by essexjan at 1:17 PM on September 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Baked Red Bean Buns. Yeasty bread filled with mildly sweet red bean paste. Amazing right out of the oven.
posted by asphericalcow at 5:43 PM on September 11, 2010

Red bean paste is pretty easy to make from scratch - soak beans for awhile, then put them on the stove with some water, sugar, and a bit of salt. I usually use brown sugar. You should be able to find red beans, also called azuki, at any Chinese or Japanese grocery.
posted by asphericalcow at 5:46 PM on September 11, 2010

After fruitless searching for Fergasa bread recipes, I took a tip from some user comments and modified an existing white bread recipe to make my own. Fergasa bread seems to be a mostly local Manitoba/Ontario treat (please correct me if that's not the case); it's a fluffy white bread laced with cheese, green onions, and sometimes garlic and/or jalapenos. Just tried it again this afternoon; it's pretty hard to go wrong with this one and the results are moist and flavourful.

Fergasa Bread

By Noel Ster (Based on 'Country White Bread' by Joanne Shew Chuk)

Ingredients

* 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast (equals 4 1/2 teaspoons)
* 2 cups warm water (110 degrees to 115 degrees)
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 tablespoon salt
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil (olive works well)
* 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup cheddar or colby cheese, cubed (1/4 to 1/2 inch)
* 2 teaspoons garlic powder
* 8 tablespoons coarsely chopped green onions (four stalks; green part only)

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar, salt, eggs, oil and 3 cups of flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Add garlic powder, chopped green onions and cubed cheddar cheese; knead and twist dough just enough to distribute the cheese and onions. Divide in half and shape into loaves.

Place in two well-greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans; cool on wire racks.

PS: Don't worry if the second rise isn't double. It can even be skipped if pressed for time - the result is a moister, firmer loaf.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 5:56 PM on September 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

I made pickled jalapeno and pepperjack cheese bread today. It was -really good-.

It would probably work with fresh chiles, too, but the pickling made the peppers awesomely crunchy and added some nice flavors.
posted by BZArcher at 6:39 PM on September 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

My sister has a recipe for pineapple and coconut yeast bread - I'll see if I can get it for you, if you want.
posted by LN at 7:40 PM on September 11, 2010

king arthur flour's spicy spiral bread!
posted by msconduct at 10:48 AM on September 12, 2010

A note about the Fergasa bread recipe above: If you do decide to skip the second rising the cooking time should increase by about 15 to 20 minutes.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 1:31 PM on September 12, 2010

Take a standard white loaf recipe and replace half the water with passata/sieved tomatoes (which is really just passata in a box at half the price) and herbs.

There is also the black country tradition of putting small lumps of cheese or meat (ham? bacon?) in the dough before baking.
posted by tallus at 6:15 PM on September 12, 2010