French Onion Bread
This is a bread that I have adapted from the original one in 'Simply Good Bread' by Pete Sidwell. It was a white bread but personally I think of French onion soup as very hearty, filling, and frankly brown! Consequently, I adapted the original dough to make it brown-er and more filling, like the soup.
Ingredients:
For the bread dough:
- 1 tsp yeast
- 200g white flour
- 300g brown/ malt house flour
- 1 heaped tsp salt
- 1 heaped tsp sugar
- 25g butter/oil
- 300ml water
For the filling/topping
- 1 large white onion
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp thyme, chopped
- 600 ml vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp French mustard
- 100g good quality cheese
Method:
1. Place the ingredients for the bread dough into the bread pan in the order that your bread maker's manufacturer specifies
2. Put the pan into the bread machine and set your machine to pizza/dough setting. Press start
3. Meanwhile, slice the onion as thin as possible and place, with the oil, in a medium sized saucepan
4. Season with salt and pepper and add the garlic clove, crushed, along with the chopped thyme
5. Cook gently until the onions turn golden
6. Add the vegetable stock and boil until half of the mixture has evaporated. Leave to cool
7. When it has finished, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a flat circle. Spread this with the mustard
8. Put a good spoonful of cooled onions (without the liquid) onto the centre of the dough
9. Bring the edges of the dough together and seal the onions inside, before turning out onto a lined baking tray (upside down)
10. Using a pair of scissors, cut a cross in the top of the dough and grate plenty of cheese on top
11. Leave to prove in a warm place for about 20 mins
