~ "By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; Through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures." ~ "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing" ~ "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." ~ "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."~

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Almost No Knead Bread Revisited...Olive Rosemary Variation


Almost No Knead Bread Revisited...Olive Rosemary Variation. It is that time of the year that I love...bread baking! I really look forward to trying different bread recipes. Recently, I made a variation to the Almost No Knead bread....thought I would (or should:))share it with you. I just love this bread...perfect for the bread basket. It is great served with a Parmesan, garlic whipped butter. But, this time around, I decided to add some kalamata olives, olive oil and some rosemary. It was wonderful! This bread is very similar to Costco's olive, rosemary bread that they sell....except that it is homemade. Plus, it makes you look like a pro! If you haven't tried this bread, you should! It really isn't complicated at all...you just have to have a bunch of patience. The dough needs a much longer rising time than the usual...but other than that, there isn't much to it. You do have to have a dutch oven with a cover or a corning ware with a cover. I have not posted step-by-step photos to this recipe... If you would like more information and photos, please see my post on my Almost No Knead Bread. For the full step-by-step instructions click here.
You will need: adapted from Cooks Illustrated with my additions.
3 cups (15 ounces) all purpose or bread flour
1/4 tsp. instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup + 2 Tbs. (7 ounces) water at room temp.( I like to have mine cozy warm...just pleasant to the touch)
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. (3 ounces) mild flavored lager (or any beer)
1 Tbs. white vinegar
1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives
2 tsp dried rosemary
2 TBS olive oil(optional)
Directions:
In a large bowl add flour , yeast, and salt. Mix well. Add water, beer, olive oil and vinegar.Mix in the kalamata olives and rosemary. Make sure to incorporate all the dry ingredients with the wet. Form into a ball and cover with a plastic wrap.Let rise for 8-18 hrs in a 70 deg warm place. (I placed mine in the oven).Flour your working place(counter top) and place the risen dough bread onto it. Knead the dough 10-15 times being careful not to deflate all the bubbles in the dough.It is a soft dough...don't put all your strength into it.Form into a ball and place on a lightly greased parchment paper lightly grease the top. Add any toppings (or omit if doing plain) and cover with plastic. Let rise for 2 hours. Score with a sharp blade 1/2 inch deep and sprinkle with some flour.
After 1 hour and a half hour has passed preheat the oven to 500 for 35 minutes with the corning ware in it.Place bread with parchment in hot corning ware. Decrease oven temp to 425 deg. Cover and bake bread for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes. Cool and Enjoy a slice or two!

8 comments:

Sailaja Damodaran said...

Looks perfect....

Chocolate Shavings said...

That bread looks better than some of the loaves I've gotten at bakeries!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this recipe... I made it for a dinner party (without olives, but added crumbled parmesan) and it was perfect. Very easy to make, too.

Ellie said...

Anon, I love this recipe...it is always a hit! Love the idea of crumbled Parmesan....must try that next time.

Anonymous said...

I made this recipe with 2 c whole wheat flour and one c bread flour for xmas dinner. I had to knead the sticky, sticky dough on an oiled counter but it baked up fragrant and amazing. Thank you for sharing!

Ellie said...

Greenbasket, Thanks for trying out the bread... So glad you liked it! Yes, it is a sticky dough... But that's what makes the bread rise so nicely:). I am so glad the bread was a welcome addition to your Christmas dinner. Really appreciate you taking the time to comment and sharing your feedback... Love how you used some whole wheat flour.

Cindi said...

Any good ideas on variations of the no knead bread? Thanks.

Ellie said...

Cindi, I'm thinking you can get as creative as you like... using ingredients that aren't overly wet, so as not to affect the overall dough consistency. But here are a few suggestions that come to mind....
~sundried tomato with basil,
~walnut and rosemary,
~pecan and cinnamon/sugar,
~raisin and walnut,
~a nut and seed to include flax seed, chia seed, ~poppy sesame seeds, etc.
~you can add some cocoa and rye to make a pumpernickel sort of bread, adding caraway seeds etc.
~you can use various herbs make a dill potato bread, decreasing some of the flour and adding potato flakes and maybe using potato water for some of the liquid.
~dried cranberry and orange
~dried fruits and nuts...

These are just ideas... and ingredient amounts will be up to taste. I'd first make the original bread, check out the consistency of the dough and adjust additions next time .
Hope this helps, if you come up with a great variation, I'd love to hear about it.
But thanks for stopping by...