Parmesan Party Bread

The week leading up to the penultimate Saturday in September had been a tiring one as I had fallen ill after becoming worn down by lots of nonetheless enjoyable meetings during the week to do with work, family and friends. On the Saturday itself I had been invited to the housewarming party of one my best friends at his new girlfriend's house. After taking copious amounts of Beechams I headed to the top of the nearest hill to get some fresh air and when I returned home I set about making some bread for my friend, his girlfriend and their guests to enjoy.

I decided to make a variation on a bread I had taken to previous party that some of the guests of tonight's party had also attended and enjoyed. I started by mixing together in a bowl seven ounces of strong white bread flour and five ounces of wholemeal bread flour with a sachet of yeast. After stirring these ingredients together I added a beaten egg, that I had first let warm to room temperature, and a quarter of a pint of milk. I stirred the egg and milk into the flours and yeast to create a soft paste into which I kneaded two further ounces of wholemeal bread flour so as to make the dough pliable but dry enough not to stick to the bowl. I then left the dough on my windowsill in the late September sunshine to rise for half an hour.

While the dough was rising I fried a diced red onion and a diced white onion with a pinch of white pepper for twenty minutes until the onions became golden. When the bread had risen I rolled it out flat and spread the onions out evenly over the surface. I then grate an ounce of Parmesan Cheese over the onions and took the corners of the bread and folded them together to form a parcel of pastry.

I brushed the top of the bread with milk and then cooked it in the oven for twenty-five minutes at 190 degrees (200 if it was a non-fan oven). After leaving the bread to cool I wrapped it in foil and headed out to the party. It proved to be a hit as the guests took just half an hour to devour the whole loaf at what was a memorable and entertaining evening.

Get it while you can: the bread shortly before it was finished off.