Olive Bread

So some people say they make bread and it doesn't have that nice crust you see from bakeries and it really just doesn't taste the same. This olive bread is exactly like what you would buy from the store. And may I add, it is to die for.

This bread is pretty easy and not time consuming. Another plus, it doesn't really include kneading.

Add your flour, your salt, and your yeast. I used 1/3 whole wheat bread flour.

Next, chop up the olives, about 1 1/2 cups, but if you don't have that many, it isn't the end of the world, it just depends how many olives you want in your bread!

Next, I added Rosemary, as a personal preference. It adds a more gourmet taste to it, and makes it smell wonderful when you are baking it!

Next add in the water and stir it all together until well incorporated and no dry bits are visible. I enjoy doing this with a wooden spoon, do not ask why.

This is the most painful part by a long shot! Now you cover it and let it sit for 14-18 hours. Turn it out onto a floured surface, emphasis on the floured. This dough is very sticky compared to say, pizza dough. It will stick to everything without flour, I guarantee it! Knead it until it is covered with flour, but should be the same consistency. Now flour a proofing bowl (can be found here), or if you don't have one, a tea towel. 

Now cover it with a damp towel. It needs a towel so it doesn't lose all of its moisture. Now let it sit for another 1-2 hours, until it has risen some more. During this time, the oven should be preheating with a Le Creuset (can be found here) for 45 minutes. Beware, if the top of your Le Creuset (the handle) is not meant to go into the oven a high temperatures. To fix that problem I would suggest taking off the top handle which should easily unscrew. Next, when it is time to be baked, pick up the towel with the dough on it and roll the dough into the pot.

Bake the bread for 30 minutes with the lid on.This is 30 minutes into the baking time. Now take off the lid and bake for another 15-20 minutes. 

This is when it is done, you can certainly cook it a little longer, but I don't enjoy a super crispy crust. Now flip it out onto a wooden cutting board. I may have lied earlier, when I said the hardest part was waiting for it to rise. Now you have to wait for at least an hour so that the inside can form bubbles. Trust me, it tastes so much better if you wait. The, after a 20 hour process...

Voila! You have homemade Olive Bread.

• 3 Cups Bread Flour
• 1 1/2 Cup Kalamata Olives, pitted, drained, roughly chopped
• 3/4 Teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 Cups cool water
• 1+ teaspoon salt

Drain the olives and pat them dry. Roughly chop and make sure that all the olives actually don’t have pits.

 Mix yeast, salt, and flour together in a large bowl and then toss in the chopped olives.Add water and mix everything together using your hands or a large spoon. Cover this and let it sit at room temperature for 14-18 hours.

Take a large tea towel and sprinkle it liberally with flour and corn meal. If you don’t have corn meal you can just use flour, but corn meal adds a great texture to it. Scrape dough (you’ll need to scrape it) out onto a floured surface and just fold it a few times, liberally flouring both sides if it is sticking. Eventually you want to form a ball or loaf with it. 

Turn this onto floured towel with the seam side down on the towel. Cover with the towel and let the loaf ferment and proof for another two hours. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. 

Let a cast iron pot heat in the oven for at least 45 minutes so it is as hot as can be. Once the pot is blazing hot, pick up the towel with the dough on it and roll the dough into the pot so the seam side is up again! Put the lid on the pot and cook it for 30 minutes. Then take off the lid (be really careful of escaping steam). Cook it for another 15-20 minutes or so until the crust is a dark, walnut brown. 

Let it cool on a wire rack for an hour before slicing it.