An Inspired Cook

One of our favorite places to eat in Santa Fe is at the Plaza Cafe. It’s in the heart of the plaza and Santa Fe’s oldest restaurant. If you’re ever there for lunch, try their Plaza Club Sandwich or BLT & A which is served on green chile cheddar bread. It is so delicious! Joe always orders a sandwich just because he can’t get enough of the bread and asked me to put it on the bucket list. I started with Josh’s Artisan Bread recipe which is easy to make and added roasted chopped green chile and cheese. Monterey Jack is what I had on hand but Cheddar or Oaxaca cheese would be a good choice for this bread also. The cheese melts throughout and tastes so good. It makes a great panini or toasted sandwich and the end pieces can be cubed to make croutons as a topping for soup or salad. Whatever you make with this crusty bread, your meal will be enhanced by the flavors of green chile and cheese.

In a large bowl, add flour, yeast and salt. Stir well.

You’ll need 1 cup of cheese cut into small cubes and 3/4 cup of chopped roasted green chile.

Add the cubed cheese into the flour mix and stir well.

Add the roasted chopped green chile.

Stir well so that the cheese and green chile is distributed evenly throughout the flour mix.

Begin to add the water, a little bit at a time. The roasted green chile has some moisture in it so you may not need all of the water. Keep adding a little bit of water and stirring after each addition until the dough begins to bind together.

Scrape the sides of the bowl so that all the flour is incorporated and continue until it becomes a moist dough.

Place a lid on top or plastic wrap and set on a counter or other workspace to proof overnight. This can sit out 12 – 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake, heat the oven to 450 degrees and place a 3 – 4 quart dutch oven with the lid in the oven to get nice and hot. Usually by the time the oven reaches 450 degrees it’s hot enough.

While the dutch oven is heating up, remove the dough onto a floured surface and lightly mold it into the shape of a ball. You don’t want to knead it, it just needs to be shaped.

When your done, place a cup towel over top of it until bake time. Remove the dutch oven and sprinkle flour in the bottom. Cut 2 slits in the dough with scissors or a sharp knife. Drop into the hot dutch oven, sprinkle with a little bit of flour, place the lid on top and bake 30 minutes. When the 30 minutes are up, remove the lid and let bake an additional 10 minutes.

And this is what it looks like just out of the oven. The cheese stuck just a little bit on the bottom but I was able to run a knife around the edges and it slid out easily onto a cutting board.

Let cool before slicing.

Joe requested Bacon, Tomato and Avocado panini’s.

The bread is soft when sliced. To avoid the sandwich becoming soggy on the inside, toast the bread just until it begins to crisp. Add some butter to the bottom side and set on hot comal (cast iron griddle). Next add layers of mayo, crisp bacon, sliced tomato and avocado slices. Place another slice of bread on top and butter the top before flipping it over to toast the other side. No cheese needed as the bread is full of cheese. The cheese in each slice will melt on the hot comal making a nice crisp crust.

The end pieces of the bread were cubed to make croutons. Spray a sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray and spread the cubes single file. Drizzle olive oil over top and bake for 20 – 25 minutes at 400 degrees. I used a few croutons to top our shrimp gumbo. It added flavor and was very tasty! The remaining croutons were saved to go on a salad.

Green Chile and Cheese Artisan Bread

3 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Yeast
2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese, cut into small cubes (May substitute Cheddar or Oaxaca Cheese)
3/4 cup Green Chile, roasted and chopped
1 1/2 cups Lukewarm Water
Note:**Roasted and chopped green chile will contain some moisture. In my experience the dough formed with less water, (maybe 2 – 3 tablespoons less). Only add the amount of water to form a moist dough.

Combine the flour, yeast and kosher salt together in a large bowl.  Add the cheese cubes and stir well. Add the roasted and chopped green chile and stir until the cheese and green chile are coated and well distributed throughout the flour mix. Begin to add the water, a little bit at a time stirring to incorporate the liquid before adding more. Continue adding the water until the dough begins to form and take shape.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and form the dough into a ball.  Place a lid or plastic wrap over the top of the bowl and leave out on the counter or other workspace at room temperature overnight up to 24 hours.  The dough will rise and form air bubbles throughout.

When you are ready to bake the dough, set your oven to preheat at 450 degrees.  Set a dutch oven with the lid inside the oven so that it will get nice and hot.

Meanwhile sprinkle a work surface with flour.  Gently pry the dough away from the bowl and gently shape it into a ball. Sprinkle the top with flour and cover with a cup towel or plastic wrap.

When the oven has reached 450 degrees, remove the dutch oven and lightly sprinkle flour into it.  Gently lift the dough and drop into the dutch oven taking care not to burn yourself.  Make slits into the dough with a sharp knife or with kitchen scissors.  Place the lid on the dutch oven and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the lid and let the top crust brown for 10 minutes more.

Remove from oven and transfer to a cutting board and let cool.

Make toasted or panini style sandwiches, cut into cubes to make croutons for soup or salad. A toasted slice with butter tastes mighty good too! Makes one medium round crusty artisan loaf.