Second Home - Mediterranean Olive Bread

When you think of typical Mediterranean foods, certain images immediately come to mind. Salty white cheeses like the famous feta and its universal cousins. Olive oil and olives. Ripe, firm tomatoes. Fresh herbs like oregano, basil of course, thyme, rosemary.

And bread, two styles especially. There is the thick-crusted 'artisan'-style loaves. Basically a boule, baked at a high temperature until almost black. The interior remains soft and white while the crust is so crunchy you almost have to saw it open. Almost. Then there is the 'country' loaf. A softer crust with a white and fluffy interior. Almost heaven and made with only a few select ingredients. White bread flour, yeast, water and salt. To soften the crust just a little more add an egg. To brown the crust add some sugar. That's it.

This bread is from the second category. It has a robust crust but not at all crunchy or chewy. The interior is soft as soft can be. Fluffy. It is a variation on a bread found throughout the Mediterranean in one form or another. Another variant can be found in the wonderful baking book Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads. I have replaced the typical butter with olive oil to cut down on the saturated fats, and to add the flavor of the oil. Olive oil does not suit a lot of baked goods, but is perfect for Mediterranean bread. Also, just so you wouldn't mistake it's origins, I have added about 1 cup of roughly chopped green olives. The aroma in your kitchen will be unbelievable. And if you can manage to wait until it cools, you won't be disappointed.

Here's What You'll Need:
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups bread flour (or AP flour)
1 Tbs. dry yeast
2 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cups warm water
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter (or Olive oil)
1 cup green olives, roughly chopped (or half black)
1 egg, lightly beaten

Here's What You'll Need to Do:

1. In a large mixing bowl, add 2 cups of the flour and the other dry ingredients (yeast, sugar and salt). Mix thoroughly.

2. Make a well in the center, then add the water, while stirring, to form a thick-ish batter. Beat in the eggs, then the butter gradually. Or the olive oil if using it instead of the butter.

3. Stir vigorously until the batter is smooth and silky, then add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough 'cleans the bowl'. Continue to knead until the dough is smooth and shiny and only just barely sticky.

4. Place the dough in a lightly-oiled bowl, turn to coat, then cover and let it rise until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.

5. Deflate the dough. Push it out with your fingers until it forms a rough rectangle. Sprinkle the drained olives evenly over the surface of the dough, then roll it up, jelly-roll style from the long side to form a 'log'. Tuck the ends underneath the log, and place it on a parchment -lined baking sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel, to rise a second time, about 45 minutes.

6. About 20 minutes before baking time, pre-heat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Brush the loaf with the beaten egg, then bake for about 35 minutes until it is a deep brown. It will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

7. Cool on a rack.

Oh, and it makes amazing toast!

Bet You Can't Eat Just One - Onion Crackers

I have a weakness, and I may as well come clean. I love to snack, and I can't help myself. And in the great debate over sweet or salty snacks... I definitely come down on the side of salty. I especially love (but really love!) potato chips, pretzels, etc. And crackers. And when I can top off a crispy, salty cracker with a slice of a good sharp cheese, say some aged cheddar then there's no stopping me. That's why, I rarely make crackers and why there are so few cracker recipes on BreadmanTalking. I'd probably eat them all before I could take the pictures. That said, last week I was tempted once again, and gave in ... These onion crackers are adapted from a recipe I found in Bernard Clayton's incredible book Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads. The book is sooo comprehensive. It has literally everything you could ever want. If you're looking for a single bread cookbook, easy to read and use, this is it! It is also at least loosely based on a memory I have of a kind of cracker I used to eat many years ago when growing up in Cape Breton.With a thick slab of a nice sharp cheddar. In previous posts I have mentioned the bakery from my childhood home. Bernie's Bakery. The name practically makes me salivate all by itself!. Bernie was a Polish immigrant who specialized in all the East European breads and crackers. I can still see the Ukrainians, Poles, Russians and Jews lined up out the door on Sunday morning for dark and light rye, along with North American specialties like, cinnamon buns. And crackers like these.


Here's What You'll Need:
2 Cups  (280g) AP flour (or substitute 2/3 C (160g) whole wheat flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 Tbs poppy seeds
1 egg at room temperature
1/3 Cup oil
1 Cup chopped onions
2 Tbs water (if needed)
 
Here's What You'll Need To Do:

For this recipe, you will need two bowls, just like for a cake, one for wet and one for dry. Mix all the dry ingredients together in one bowl,

and in the second bowl mix the egg, oil and onions. The onions will likely be 'weeping' and so the amount of liquid will determine if you need the water. Obviously, it's better to leave the onion juice in so you get more flavor. If you drain them and add water instead the onion flavor will be less intense. Why would you do that?

Slowly pour the onion mixture into the flour mixture, stirring vigorously. This dough will be quite stiff, but should not be crumbly. If it is, add a little water, one teaspoon at a time. In the unlikely event that the dough is too wet, add a little flour, one teaspoon at a time. Remember, this is a cracker, not a loaf of fluffy bread. Knead for a few minutes to make it smooth and evenly distributed, then place in an oiled bowl, covered, to relax in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

Roll the dough out on parchment paper until very thin, about 1/8in (2mm). Using a pizza cutter, or a fluted pasta cutter, cut the dough into cracker sized pieces, then, with a fork, poke holes in each cracker. This prevents them from puffing up during baking (a definite no no!).

Bake for about 10 minutes (it will be longer if the dough is wetter) until crisp and golden. They will be less crisp, but just as tasty, if you used whole wheat flour. Cool on a rack, and then, try and control yourself! I couldn't.