Crusty Chewy Czech Chleba Bread

Welcome to The Storied Recipe, a podcast about food, culture, and love.

My podcast guest, Daniela Wilson, shared this recipe for the BEST Bread for Charcuterie Boards: Czech Chleba along with her powerful story of defecting from the former Czechoslovakia and overcoming a series of rejections in her childhood. I invite you to listen to her powerful and hopeful episode, Rejection, Defection, and Redemption while you make her crusty, crunchy, chewy bread for your charcuterie board!

Compared to all the elaborately slashed and decorated loaves trending on Instagram and Pinterest, this Czech Chleba Bread is as humble as one of its ingredients: the potato. When I removed it from the oven, somewhat flat, a little bumpy, and coated with a soft layer of flour, I wondered if I had failed to follow the recipe. 

But shortly thereafter, my family started commenting on its delicious smell and the kitchen filled with my kids requesting a slice. The entire exterior - top, bottom, and sides - was crunchy and a tap on the bottom of the bread made a satisfying hollow sound. And truly, when I cut into the bread, revealing specks of potato and those tempting caraway seeds, my confidence grew. 

It wasn't until the next day, when I sampled the bread with a sampling of meats, soft cheeses, & jam, that I realized this is truly the perfect bread to serve with a charcuterie board. Delicious, chewy, and crunchy in it's own right, it's also the perfect vessel for any sweet or savory topping (including this Baked Brie with Roasted Grapes or a Czech Inspired Charcuterie Board). 

Although The perfect bread for a beginner! (That's me!)

Daniela + Chleba Bread + Charcuterie Boards

For Daniela, a charcuterie board represents the times that all the people in her life - across 3 continents - gather together to remember a dramatic personal story of rejection, defection, and redemption.

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Easy Instructions

Chleba is a crusty bread with a chewy texture. Not only is it perfect for a charcuterie board, it's also super easy to make - even for beginners!

• Boil, cool, and peel potatoes.
• Mix with dry ingredients, add water and oil.
• Let dough rise for 60+ minutes.
• Divide, shape into discs, second rise for 15 minutes. 
• Bake 1 hour, brushing with salt water for crust.

Why Chleba is the Best Bread for Charcuterie Boards 

• Chleba > Sourdough bread because it's super fast and requires no starter
• Chleba > Storebought Artisan bread because it's cheaper, homemade, and no preservatives
• Chleba > Whole grain, Multigrain bread, French bread or Italian breads because it's sturdier for loading with jams, butter, spreads, cheeses, and meats.
• Chleba > French Baguette because it's easier to cut and chew

Ingredients

Flour - all purpose is fine

Potato - Softer potatoes like gold will not show up as well. Use firm potatoes like red potatoes or russet (but if you use those, cut down to just 2).

Vinegar - Acid makes the dough rise faster and creates more bubbles for a bigger crumb. Why this bread works for novice bakers. For more advice read this great article from Busbys Bakery.

Yeast - Active dry or instant will work. This recipe doesn't call for rehydration (sprinkling the yeast on water to let it prove) so technically you should choose instant yeast. But both will rise once exposed to water and the vinegar will make it happen fast, so... you're ok with either.  

Caraway - While Daniela's Chleba is not quite a rye bread (it doesn't contain any rye flour), the caraway seeds give a unique flavor that pairs perfectly with all the variety of cheeses, cured meats, and salty flavors of a board. 

Variations

• rye flour
• more or less caraway seeds

Equipment

The equipment you'll need is as humble as the bread:

• Just a saucepan to cook the potatoes
• A baking sheet and parchment paper to cook the bread
• Obviously a great charcuterie board to display your cheeses, meats, fruits, and sweet/spicy/crunchy meats

Storage

Chleba Bread freezes great! Wrap in plastic wrap and then place in a Ziploc bag or wrap again in foil.

More Charcuterie Board Posts

More Eastern European Recipes

Recipe

Crusty, Chewy Czech Chleba Bread

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5 from 2 reviews

• Total Time: 3 hours
• Yield: 16 2 loaves with 8 pieces of bread 1x

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Description

A traditional Czech bread seasoned with caraway seeds and potatoes. The brilliance of this bread its it’s crunchy, crispy crust and chewy interior which is perfect for the meats, cheeses, jams, and spreads on any charcuterie board.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 7 cups All purpose flour
• 3 cooked medium size Potatoes
• 3 tbsp Vinegar
• 3 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Caraway seeds
• 3 tsp Yeast
• 2 1/2 cups Water

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Instructions

1. Boil the potatoes and set aside to cool.
2. After cooled, peel into a bowl.
3. Add other dry ingredients.
4. Add water, starting with just two cups. Add water until flour is incorporated and dough holds together.
5. Oil a bowl and put dough into bowl. Roll the dough around a little until it is coated with oil and won’t dry out.
6. Let rise for at least 60 minutes, or until dough is at least doubled. Can go longer.
7. Cut into two portions.
8. Simply shape each portion into a disc onto oiled and floured parchment paper on a pan. The discs will be somewhat flat.
9. Turn oven to 350°F / 176.6°C.
10. Let rise for another 15 minutes, while oven preheats.
11. Bake for an hour. Brush the bread with salt water every 10 – 15 minutes during the baking process. This creates a crunchier crust.

Notes

Make sure you listen to Daniela's episode, Charcuterie Board: A Story of Rejection, Defection, and Redemption while you make her Chleba Bread.

• Prep Time: 2 hours
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Category: Baking, Bread, Cake
• Cuisine: Eastern European

Nutrition

• Calories: 233
• Sugar: 0.5
• Sodium: 442
• Fat: 1
• Saturated Fat: 0.1
• Carbohydrates: 49
• Fiber: 3
• Protein: 7

Charcuterie Board Choices to Pair with Chleba Bread

• Briefly - Glorified Cheese board
  • Sharp Cheeses: cheddar cheese
  • Hard Cheeses
  • Creamy Cheeses
  • Sweet Spreads (Like this pimento cheese ball)
  • Strong Cheeses: Blue cheese
  • Spreadable: Goat Cheese
  • Brie cheese
• Variety of Meats
  • Genoa salami
  • Pepperoni
• Fresh Fruit and Veggies
  • Sweet like grapes, apples pears
  • Tart like cherries, cranberries
• Sweet
  • Apricot jam, fig jam
  • Dried fruit - apricots
  • Dark chocolate
  • Yogurt covered raisins
• Savory Spreads
  • Garlic butter
  • Olive tapenade
  • Roasted Red Pepper dip
  • Hummus
• Crunchy
  • Candied nuts