I should start by saying I’ve never made bread before.
If you’ve ever had homemade bread, you know that it is damn good and no store bought, abnormally squishy bread could ever compare. But making bread… wow, what a process.
It takes commitment to make a loaf of bread in your own kitchen. Heck, I’m not even talking about good bread. To make a good loaf of bread takes a whole other level of competence and patience.
As you may know, I am not a patient person.
However, I was going to be a guest at the house of some friends and I wanted to bring a little thank you present. What do you bring a group that includes a health-nut, a chocolate allergy, and a cookie-holic?
The only thing I could think of was bread.
My father found me this recipe for this Japanese/Chinese style bread that I wanted to try, but for a gift I felt I needed something more special. More artisan. Then, this food memory hit me on the head: there was this bread I had when I was in the south of France with green olives, topped with sea salt. It was the absolute tastiest thing you could have especially with that warm, ocean breeze on your back. I remember seeing olives (which I used to hate) in a whole different life after eating that bread.
So olive bread it was.
The thing with bread is it takes a lot of flouring. And kneading. And waiting. And flouring. And kneading. And waiting. Be prepared to make a mess, then wait in your mess until the bread is in the oven.
But the best thing about bread was how amazing the science is! Yes I’m a nerd! Water, yeast, flour and a good hour later, you go from this…
To this!
And you get to punch the dough (fun) and feel it deflate (more fun), knead it out again and then watch it double in size. Every time!
If you want an ego boost, make bread. Makes you proud to watch your bread rise, although science prevents it from not doing so. And that delicious smell… ohhhh. It is a no-fail.
I actually split the dough to make three loaves of bread instead of one, so that I would have one tester bread, and two to give away. When I took these pretty loaves out of the oven, I was in disbelief that “it actually worked”.
Delicious crust with delicate crumbles of salt. Moist, springy-soft bread with little hits of salty, green olives. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.
Here it is all wrapped and ready to go. I first wrapped the loaf in plastic wrap, then covered it with a pretty kitchen towel. I placed everything into a versatile ceramic bowl. There, after the edible present is gone, there are still some useful items that can be used. I like doing rather than having disposable wrapping paper.
My only tip is, if you are wrapping it up, to wait until the bread has completely cooled beforehand so that the salt doesn’t sink into the warm bread because it is wrapped. You want the salt to stay crumbly on the top of the loaf.
Olive Bread – adapted from allrecipes.com
- 3 cups bread flour
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup chopped green (or black) olives
- 3 tablespoons olive oil (non-extra-virgin is best)
- 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
- 1 tablespoon cornmeal (for texture on the crust)
- Fleur de sel or sea salt
Directions
In a large bowl, mix together flour, yeast, sugar, salt, olives, olive oil, and water.
Turn out dough onto a floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes. Set aside, and let rise about 45 minutes, until it doubles in size. Punch down. Knead well again, for about 5 to 10 minutes. Let rise for about 30 minutes, until it doubles in size.
Round the dough on kneading board. Place upside down in a bowl lined with a lint-free, well floured towel. Let rise until double in size.
While the bread is rising for the third time, put a pan of water in the bottom of the oven. Preheat oven to 475degrees F.
Gently turn loaf out onto a sheet pan that has been lightly oiled or covered with parchment paper, and dusted with cornmeal. Sprinkle the top with as much fleur de sel or sea salt as you wish.
Bake loaf at 475 degrees F for 15 minutes. Make sure the loaf is not too close to the top of the oven or it will burn. Reduce heat to 400 degrees F. Bake for 30 more minutes, or until done.
Discussing Food and Face 