TASTE
Baking own olive bread a cinch with machine
| • | The art of entertaining |
By Elaine Magee
Q. Dear Recipe Doctor, I have a bread machine and I've noticed that some of your recipes (which all work out so well) call for using a bread machine to make the bread dough. Do you have a recipe for olive bread? I've purchased this in the store but I would like to make it at home after you have "doctored" it up.
A. I do definitely use my bread machine to make bread dough which I then shape and let rise a second time before popping in the oven. I almost never bake the bread in the bread machine. Just using the dough cycle saves so much time and effort compared to working from scratch. Most of the things I'm making with my bread machine, like pizza crust or cinnamon rolls, require baking in the oven anyway.
I've not made olive bread before but your letter inspired me today. I used a couple tablespoons of olive oil to give the bread dough a nice texture and for the sweetness (which helps feed the yeast activity), I used 1 1/2 tablespoons of honey. Just a teaspoon of salt is used (it helps control the yeast activity), less than what most bread recipes call for. And to kick up the fiber and whole-grain nutrients, whole-wheat flour replaces half of the white flour.
KALAMATA OLIVE BREAD (FOR THE BREAD MACHINE)
Add water, honey, and olive oil to bread machine pan. Then add the whole-wheat flour and white flour. Drop the salt into one corner of the bread machine pan then make a well in the center of the flour in the pan and pour in the yeast.
Click on the "dough cycle" button and press "Start." While the dough is mixing, measure out 3/4 cup of the kalamata olives (be sure to poke through them to assure there are no pits left in them). After about 5 minutes of mixing, drop in the whole olives. The bread machine will incorporate them into the dough and the rest of the dough cycle should take another 1 hour and 35 minutes.
When the dough cycle is complete, cover the outside of the dough with some white flour (about 2 tablespoons), place on a nonstick baking sheet and shape the dough into a French bread shaped loaf about 11 inches long and 4 inches wide. Start preheating the oven to 400 degrees, then cover the bread with a towel and place near the preheating oven.
When the bread has doubled in size (about 45 minutes), bake in the hot oven for about 35 minutes, until the crust is deep golden brown. Place the bread on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes. Serve the bread warm or cold.
This bread works well as an accompaniment to an entree or for a sandwich.
Makes 12 servings.
Elaine Magee is a registered dietitian. Learn more at www.recipedoctor.com
