When in doubt, add more cheese
If Gabardine chef de cuisine Jonathan MacDonald can easily whip up his cheesy bread for a photo shoot in the middle of a busy lunch service for his Bay St. clientele, the average home cook would have no problem making this in their kitchen.
“As long as you don’t kill the yeast at the start, it’s pretty much going to work every time even if you don’t proof the dough properly,” says MacDonald. The chef came up with the recipe while studying business in Halifax in 2005. As a student, he wanted a cheaper, DIY home-version of the garlic fingers he and his fellow Haligonians would order at the city’s many donair shops after a night of drinking.
He started with a friend’s pizza dough recipe and went to a donair shop to ask what went into the famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) milky sweet and sour kebab sauce that’s unique to the city: sweetened condensed milk, white vinegar and garlic powder. On its own, it tastes like sour milk but when dipped with bread it becomes an addictive tangy sauce not unlike the dipping sauces that come with a pizza delivery.
The cheesy bread has been his go-to item to bring to parties, and he often makes it for the staff meal at the restaurant, where he’s been working since it opened in 2011. It’s easy, relatively quick and a taste of home for the chef.
Jonathan MacDonald’s East Coast-Style Cheese Bread With Donair Sauce
3 Star Tested This recipe is for the plain cheesy bread. As a variation I had a bit of fun while testing and added browned, crumbled spicy sausage, sliced red onion and pickled spicy peppers on top of the cheese before baking. When it came out of the oven I drizzled some of the leftover donair sauce on top and voila, I had donair pizza that fed four (or two insanely hungry people). 300 mL (10 oz) can sweetened condensed milk 1/3 cup (80 mL) white vinegar 1 tsp (5 mL) garlic powder 1 tbsp (15 mL) granulated sugar 1-1/3 cups (330 mL) lukewarm water 2-1/4 tsp (11 mL) active dry yeast 3-1/4 cups (810 mL) all-purpose flour 1 tsp (5 mL) kosher salt 3 tbsp (45 mL) olive oil 2-1/2 cups (625 mL) shredded mozzarella 1 tsp (5 mL) dried oregano 3 tbsp (45 mL) chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, for garnish Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste To make the donair sauce, whisk milk, vinegar and garlic powder in a medium-sized bowl until smooth. Set aside.
For the cheese bread, in a large bowl, dissolve sugar in water. Sprinkle in yeast. Let sit for about 10 minutes to activate yeast.
In a stand mixer with dough hook attachment, add flour, salt, 2 tbsp (30 mL) of oil, and yeast mixture. Mix at low speed to form a dough. Remove dough from stand mixer and knead for five minutes or until dough is uniform and elastic. Add a bit more flour or water if dough is too wet or too dry.
Transfer dough to a large clean bowl. Drizzle remaining olive oil on top of dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let dough proof for an hour, or until dough doubles in size. Preheat oven to 450 F (230 C). Punch down dough and transfer to a large lined baking sheet. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to a large rectangle or circle about half an inch (about 1 cm) thick. Pinch edges of dough to create a crust. Ladle about 1/4 cup (60 mL) of donair sauce on dough and spread to edges with back of a spoon. Sprinkle cheese and oregano evenly over dough. Season with salt and pepper.
Bake on middle rack for 10 to 15 minutes, or until crusts are puffy and cheese is golden and bubbly. Remove from oven and garnish with chopped parsley. Slice bread into squares or sticks and serve immediately with remaining donair sauce for dipping. Makes six to eight appetizer servings or four very generous main servings. karonliu@thestar.ca