Cheese stuffed garlic bread
Happy b’day Appa! I truly wish you were here long enough for Athu and Adya to have met you and bonded with you. They don’t know what they are missing. We know and it pains me everytime I think they never got to see their funny, caring, loving, loud & dramatic thatha who would do anything for children and who would’ve spoilt them rotten. I can totally imagine you taking the kids out even today and buying them whatever pleases their tongue & heart. The first thing that still strikes me when I think of you each time is your love for coffee and your fav quote against it whenever mom gave you a light coffee – Palakkataan paalai kaataan :). I have quit coffee for a while now but as I am writing this I think I will go have a cup of coffee sitting in a corner reminiscing you and rekindling some of my most cherished memories with you. I miss you a lot and wherever you are, I am sure you are having bucket loads of coffee, watching cricket, talking to fellow cricketers who are above with you :p and of course watching us from above and smiling/ crying with us as our mood pleases. You and amma have set parenthood goals way too high for me that I can never reach anywhere close to it. I have no clue how you guys managed to parent us the way you did. How did you manage to spend the kind of time you did despite doing your double shifts? How did you manage to take us to parks & movies whenever you could? How did you amidst all of that keep up to date with what’s happening around, watch your cricket, catch up with friends? I wish you hung around a little bit more to give some tips & tricks to me. But hey, there are some things that is not really in our control & I am sure you are happy wherever you are and that’s what matters the most I guess. Happy birthday my dearest appa! I love you.
Well honestly, I have been steering away from writing away for a while because mostly I have been tired and wanted to write something for my blog today cos it was my dad’s b’day and wanted something that I could come and read years later. Did not expect it to be such an emotional post and did not realise I would end up crying as I write this post. But again, there are some things that is not really in our control right :).
Anywho, cheese garlic bread is our home’s firm favourite & I have made it many times. However, I never got it quite like the Dominos one that we all love. My friend Yogesh once told me that his wife Nisha had made these yummax garlic bread that tasted a lot like the Dominos one and ofcourse, I had to message and check with her. She pointed me to this recipe. For years now I have been following a recipe for my pizza & bread. So I did not want to change that. However, I did the rest as per the recipe and it came out so well. Tried out a few more times with my own adds/ edits/ deletes to suit my taste and voila, we now have our house favourite on blog :). Try it out and am sure you will love it.
- 1.5 cups all purpose flour
- 1.5 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp instant dry yeast
- 1/2 cup water + 2 tbsp water 2 Tbsp = 1/8 cup
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp grated garlic
- 1/2 tsp mixed italian herbs
- 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper powder
- 1.5 tsp mixed italian herbs
- 1 tsp red chilli flakes
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 cubes cream cheese
- 200 gms mozarella cheese
- 1 tbsp finely chopped jalapenos
- 2 tsp melted butter
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In a wide/ deep bowl, add the dry ingredients – 1.5c all purpose flour, 1.5t sugar, 1t salt, 1t instant dry yeast. Mix well using a fork.
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Now add the wet ingredients – 1/8c olive oil, 1/2c + 2T warm water. Mix well (I prefer to use my hands for this).
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Knead it together to form a smooth and pliable dough.
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Grease with a drop of oil/ water on the exposed surface of the dough, close with a plate/ lid/ silicon cover/ wet muslin cloth and place it in a warm place.
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After an hour, the dough should have risen to double its quantity.
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Add 2T grated garlic, 1/2t mixed italian herbs, 1/2t red chilli flakes and mix in with the dough and with that punch the air out of the dough.
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Prep work – In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients under the 'Spice mix' section – 1/2t freshly ground black pepper powder, 1.5t mixed italian herbs, 1t red chilli flakes, 1t garlic powder, 1/4t salt. Set it aside.
Finely chop jalapenos. Slice the mozarella cheese into thin slices.
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Now take the dough & divide it into 2 equal portions and form a ball.
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Dust some all purpose flour onto a flat surface (I prefer to use silpat for this) and place one of the dough balls.
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Using a rolling pin, flatten it out to 8 inch length.
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On one side of the rolled out dough, scatter 1 roughly broken cream cheese cube.
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Top that with 100g of sliced mozarella and finely diced jalapenos.
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Add 1t of the spice mix, fold the dough and press the ends with a fork.
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Set this aside & repeat the same process for the other dough ball.
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Wet a muslin/ cotton cloth and cover the dough and place it once again in a warm place for it to rise (best left aside for an hour again).
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Take out the dough and using an oiled knife/ pizza cutter, run through and make vertical cuts on the dough.
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Melt butter and brush the butter on top of the garlic bread dough.
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Divide the remaining spice mix into 2 equal halves and scatter on top of the dough.
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Bake in a pre heated oven of 200c for 30-35 mins. Keep an eye the last few minutes to ensure the garlic bread doesn't blacken/ burn.
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Take the stuffed garlic bread sticks out of the oven and let it cool down a bit before digging in.
- You can add the grated garlic, red chilli flakes & italian herbs while kneading the dough. I somehow always end up adding it right before flattening the dough.
- You can use your fingers to flatten the dough. I prefer to use a rolling pin.
- Adjust spice levels to your taste buds. This is slightly on a spicier side.
- If you are running out of time, heat your microwave/ baking oven for 2 minutes and place the dough in it for it to raise. This helps the dough will rise in lesser time.
- I find slicing the cheese thin (instead of grating) give the pulling/ izhukkara kinda texture of the cheese which is loved at home.
- Finally each oven to their own. I have seen that some ovens work fine for this recipe at a 180c for 30-35 mins. I use an oven thermometer and this is what works for me. So there is going to be a little trial and error wrt getting used to your oven for baking/ roasting etc.
Stepwise pictures
In a wide/ deep bowl, add the dry ingredients – 1.5c all purpose flour, 1.5t sugar, 1t salt, 1t instant dry yeast. Mix well using a fork. 
Now add the wet ingredients – 1/8c olive oil, 1/2c + 2T warm water. Mix well (I prefer to use my hands for this). 
Knead it together to form a smooth and pliable dough. 
Grease with a drop of oil/ water on the exposed surface of the dough, close with a plate/ lid/ silicon cover/ wet muslin cloth and place it in a warm place 
After an hour, the dough should have risen to double its quantity. 
Add 2T grated garlic, 1/2t mixed italian herbs, 1/2t red chilli flakes and mix in with the dough. 
Mix together and punch the air out of the dough. 
Prep work – In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients under the ‘Spice mix’ section – 1/2t freshly ground black pepper powder, 1.5t mixed italian herbs, 1t red chilli flakes, 1t garlic powder, 1/4t salt. Set it aside. 
Prep work – Finely chop jalapenos. Slice the mozarella cheese into thin slices. 
Now take the dough & divide it into 2 equal portions and form a ball. Dust some all purpose flour onto a flat surface (I prefer to use silpat for this) and place one of the dough balls. 
Using a rolling pin, flatten it out to 8 inch length. 
On one side of the rolled out dough, scatter 1 roughly broken cream cheese cube. Top that with 100g of sliced mozarella and finely diced jalapenos. Add 1t of the spice mix. 
Fold the dough and press the ends with a fork. 
Set this aside & repeat the same process for the other dough ball. 
Wet a muslin/ cotton cloth and cover the dough and place it once again in a warm place for it to rise (best left aside for an hour again). 
Take out the dough and using an oiled knife/ pizza cutter, run through and make vertical cuts on the dough. 
Melt butter and brush the butter on top of the garlic bread dough. Divide the remaining spice mix into 2 equal halves and scatter on top of the dough. 
Bake in a pre heated oven of 200c for 30-35 mins. Keep an eye the last few minutes to ensure the garlic bread doesn’t blacken/ burn. 
Take the stuffed garlic bread sticks out of the oven and let it cool down a bit before digging in. 
Dig in to the oozy cheesy goodness!
