One of my friends from US posted a picture of lovely Jalapeno Cheddar bread that she had bought. You think I can get something like that here? No ! So what to do? My friend took a photo from the ingredients list and I started experimenting. First time try resulted in quite lame tasting bread, although I got the texture right.

Today I baked it again, and oh boy! I got the whole thing right. Bread is so tasty! And at least for my taste, I managed to get just right amount of Jalapeno. So please,when you bake this bread first time, adjust the amount of Jalapeno on your liking. I like food quite hot!

Jalapeno and Cheddar bread

• 100 g roasted hot dog onions
• 100 g finely minced red bell pepper
• 20-30 g minced jalapeno pepper (I used canned, please adjust this according to your own taste)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 100 g spelt semolina (or similar)
• 1 kg spelt flour (wheat works too)
• 24 g fresh yeast
• 275 g grated cheddar cheese
• 7 dl hot water divided

I use Kitchenaid for mixing the dough. You can do this by hand, too but it might be a good idea to use rubber gloves because of the jalapeno and turmeric. So let’s go and bake the bread. This recipe will give you three loafs of bread. You can also make bread rolls, if you like, to be used for burgers.

1. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together 2dl warm water,1 dl flour and crumple the yeast in. Set aside until you see bubbles forming in the mixture.
2. In a large mixing bowl,whisk together flour, salt and spices. Fold in the cheese,onion,bell pepper and jalapeño until well coated. Add the water-yeast mixture and stir until a shaggy mixture forms (mixture will be loose and sticky; this is what you want). Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 – 18 hours (up to 24). Overnight works great.

3. Preheat oven to 220 C. Place a cast iron dutch oven with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, transfer the risen dough onto a heavily floured surface (mixture will be sticky; do not knead) and lightly, gently shape into a round loaves (or rolls).When I make more than one bread, I use proofing baskets. You can use medium size bowls for this too.Just line the bowl with baking paper first.This will make it easier for you to move your bread to and from your dutch oven. (If you make bread rolls,oil your hands before starting to form the rolls. Put ready rolls on baking sheet and proceed with baking.Baking time for bread rolls is about half of the bread baking time. Check the bread roll bottom,if it is brown, they are done.)

4. Remove the hot pot from the oven, remove the lid, and carefully set the dough inside. Cover the Dutch oven and return it to oven for 30 minutes. Best enjoyed warm, fresh from the oven.Then, remove the lid, (sprinkle the top of the loaf with grated cheddar and jalapeño slices), and bake an additional 10-15 minutes until golden and crisp. Carefully remove the pot from the oven and place the loaf on a cooling rack to cool.