The Durham Farmer’s Market has gone through many changes in the two years I’ve been regularly shopping there, and I’m sure there are many evolutions yet to come. It’s been fun to see the new vendors who’ve arrived in the past year, like Dolly Mama, who makes her own North Carolina inspired chocolates, including specialties like Sweet Tea (black tea & honey), The Southern Belle (white chocolate & peach), and Sea Turtle (caramel & local pecans). I love the idea of the CSP (Community Supported Pie) offered by Scratch. Rather than picking up a box of veggies each week, you get a sweet or savory pie. This past winter I fell hard for the coconut cream pie with a layer of chocolate ganache.
But my favorite addition this year has been Loaf, a husband-and-wife bread team. He bakes the bread, she sells it. From what I’ve seen, they’ve had a lot of success right off the bat; probably because they have tasting cubes of all their breads set out and they encourage you to try as many as you want until you settle on the one that is just right for you. Even though I’m usually at the market early, they are almost always sold out of my favorite: olive bread. On several occasions, though, they’ve had a second delivery. I’ve been known to wait around a little while longer just for the chance to shell out $5 for an olive loaf. Last week we were at the market much later than usual and decided to try one of the few types they still had available. We chose walnut rye and have been loving it as breakfast toast all week long. I enjoyed it this morning spread with some peach butter I’d made for canning. It’s had me thinking about tomorrow’s breakfast all day long!
This recipe, though is for a version of olive bread that rivals Loaf’s. It makes a really spectacular bread: full of flavor, soft & chewy, and beautiful to boot! While it doesn’t require a ton of of hands-on time, it does need a good half a day of babysitting because of the frequent foldings and turnings. It’s meant for a lazy Sunday afternoon or a rainy morning spent at home. But because it makes two loaves, it’s time well spent, providing you with one loaf to get you through the week and one to give away… or not, if you love it as much as we did.
Olive-Rosemary Bread
Makes two 12×3 inch loaves
1 3/4 cups (14 oz.) water, room temperature
2 tsp. instant yeast
2 tbsp. honey
3 1/2 cups (19 1/4 oz.) bread flour, plus extra as needed for dusting
1/2 cup (2 3/4 oz) whole wheat flour
2 tsp. table salt
2 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) pitted olives, rinsed, chopped rough, and patted dry
Whisk water, yeast, and honey in bowl of standing mixer. Add flours and mix on low speed with dough hook until cohesive dough is formed, about 3 minutes. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Remove plastic wrap; make well in center of dough and add salt and rosemary. Knead dough on low speed (speed 2 on KitchenAid) for 5 minutes (if dough creeps up attachment, stop mixer and scrape down). Increase speed to medium and continue to knead until dough is smooth and slightly tacky, about 1 minute. If dough is very sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour and continue mixing for 1 minute. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and pat into 12×6-inch rectangle. Press olives evenly into dought. Starting at long side, roll rectangle into tight log. WIth seam side facing up, roll log into coil. Transfer dough, spiral side up, to oiled container or bowl, at least 2 quarts in volume, and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise in warm, draft-free location until it increases in size by 50 percent, about 1 hour.
Fold partially risen dough over itself. Turn bowl 90 degrees; fold again. Turn bowl again; fold once more. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes. Repeat folding, replace plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.
Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface, being careful not to deflate. Divide dough in half, loosely shape each piece into ball, and let rest 15 minutes. Flip each ball over and, starting from top, roll into tight oval shape. Using palms, roll each oval (seam side down) from center outward until 12-inch loaf is formed. Poke any olives that fall off into bottom seam, then pinch seam closed. Transfer each loaf, seam side down, to 12×6 inch piece of parchment and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours (dough is ready when it springs back slowly when pressed lightly with finger). Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, place baking stone on rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees at least 30 minutes before baking.
Slide parchment sheets with loaves onto peel or back of inverted baking sheet. Starting and stopping about 1 inch from each side, use razor blade or sharp knife to cut 3 1/2-inch-deep slashes on diagonal along top of each fully risen loaf; spray loaves lightly with water. Carefully slide parchment with loaves into oven using jerking motion. Bake 15 minutes, spraying loaves with water twice more in first 5 minutes, and then reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Continue to bake until bread is deep golden brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center of loaf registers 210 degrees, 25-30 minutes. Transfer to wire rack, discard parchment, and cool loaves to room temperature, about 2 hours.
From Cook’s Illustrated
0 Responses to “Olive-Rosemary Bread”