PEPPERED PARMESAN AND CHANTERELLE SODA BREAD

PEPPERED PARMESAN AND CHANTERELLE SODA BREAD

Ingredients:

¾ cup dried, crumbled chanterelles

⅓ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed orange juice

½ tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper, or fresh Aleppo pepper flakes

1 tablespoon sugar

1 ½ cups cultured buttermilk

3 cups unbleached flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

3 tablespoons salted butter, room-temperature

1 cup unbleached or cake flour for flouring the board (cake flour gives the bread a nice texture)

1. Stir the chanterelles, cheese, orange juice, pepper, and sugar into the buttermilk and store them in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before beginning this bread.

2. Mix 3 cups flour, baking soda and cream of tartar in a large food processor (three 15-second pulses should do the trick). Pulse the butter bit by bit into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly. Transfer to a large bowl and add buttermilk mixture. Stir until dough just begins to cling together. Turn onto floured board and knead gently for 12–16 turns to form a lumpy loaf of bread. Don't over-knead or the bread will be tough.

3. Transfer to a parchment-covered baking sheet or a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. Shallowly score the top, making an X with a buttered and floured knife to allow the bread to expand as it bakes. Let the dough rest 15 minutes while the oven heats.

4. Place a shallow pan of water on the lower rack. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place dough on the center rack and bake for 25 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and cook another 35–40 minutes, until the bread has a toasty brown crust. Remove from the oven and cool on a baking rack.