Harvest Monday and Kalamata Olive and Rosemary Artisan Bread

The Dark Days are here and it will soon be winter.  I have a few greens started in the greenhouse but no harvests to report. I'm joining other bloggers over at Daphne's Dandelions as we share our weekly harvests (or lack of same) ... it's fun to see what others are harvesting and what they are cooking up with it...check it out!

I've been playing with my Easy Artisan Bread Recipe .  I'm still working on a wheat variation but the Kalamata and Rosemary Loaf is a keeper!

The recipe starts out the same as for my basic Easy Artisan Bread ...

Ingredients:

3 cups warm water
6 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tbsp instant yeast

Dump all of the ingredients into a mixer bowl and mix on slow speed just until all the ingredients are combined and form a soft dough ...

After mixing I removed half of the dough and set it on the hearth to raise for some plain loaves and then added chopped Kalamata olives, chopped fresh rosemary and some coarsely ground black pepper to the dough remaining in the bowl ...

... turned the mixer back on for about a minute, dumped the dough into another plastic container ...

... and set it on the hearth to raise for 2 hours.  I put the dough in the refrigerator overnight and the next afternoon formed half of it into a loaf on a piece of parchment paper. I set the oven to 450 degrees, set a baking stone on the top oven rack, set the lid from my turkey roaster on top of the stone and closed the oven door. 

 After 30 minutes I sprinkled the rest of the flour onto the risen loaf and made 3 slashes in the dough with a serrated knife ...

I opened the oven door and (using pot holders) set the roaster lid aside, slid the parchment paper with the loaf onto the hot baking stone and covered it with the hot lid.  30 minutes later I had a beautiful loaf of fragrant olive and rosemary bread.  It was great with a bowl of my "Countdown Beef Stew"  (recipe coming soon).

Enjoy!

Artisan Bread...Easy and Affordable...

This is a great, easy recipe for a really good loaf of crusty, artisan bread.  A loaf of artisan bread in my local grocery store sells for $3.99.  I can make my bread using locally milled organic flour for about $1.75 a loaf!

Now, I should warn you that it takes 2 days to make this bread...don't panic!  The hands on time is probably less than 20 minutes...

Here are our ingredients:

3 cups flour ( I used an  Unbleached All Purpose White Flour from Fairhaven Organic Flour Mill ), plus a little more for dusting.
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast 
3/4 tablespoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
small amount of butter

To make the bread you need 2 large bowls, a wooden spoon, a plate and a large covered pot...

Lightly coat one of the bowls with butter. Dump the 3 cups flour, yeast, salt and water into the other bowl and stir until it form a loose dough (I use my Kitchen Aid mixer for this step...it's easier on my hands).

Dust your hands with a little flour, remove the dough from the bowl and form it into a ball and place in the buttered bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap...place the bowl in a warm place and forget about it for 12 to 18 hours.   After that time it will look like this...

Dump the dough on a floured surface.... (dust your hands lightly with flour and use them to scoop out any dough that sticks to the bowl).

Fold ends of dough over a few times and form into a ball shape.  Place the dough on a generously floured plate and sprinkle with more flour...

 
Cover the dough with a towel and set somewhere warm for 2 hours (my house was cold that day, so yes, that is a heating pad under the dough :)  After 90 minutes of the 2 hour raising time set your oven for 450 degrees and set the covered pot in the oven to preheat...

After the pot has been in the oven (don't you just love my 1956 GE Range with Double Ovens?...I Do!!!) for 30 minutes, remove it from the oven (use potholders, it's HOT!), uncover and dump the dough into the pot.  Replace the cover and bake covered for 30 minutes.  Take the cover off the pot and bake another 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.  The bread will sound hollow if thumped.  Remove the bread from the oven and place on a rack to cool....

Serve warm...preferably with your own homemade butter  :)

Enjoy!

Deb
(Recipe adapted from Jaden Hair who adapted it from Jim Lahey)