Monday, May 23, 2011

Rosemary-Olive Oil Bread

From the looks of things around here, it doesn't seem like I've been baking much bread. The last time I mentioned baking a loaf of bread was on January 12. The truth is that I have been baking bread. I just haven't been thrilled with what I've baked. You see, ciabatta has become my nemesis. I set out to bake loaves of chewy, airy, holey ciabatta, and my results have been less than perfect. Some loaves have a few holes but not enough, and other loaves have a crumb that looks the same as my sourdough baguette. I've tried different recipes and techniques and eventually got to the point of dreading the moment of cutting into a baked and cooled loaf. Now, I have a freezer stocked with loaves of bread disappointments. I may have to admit defeat eventually, but I'm sure I'll try again as soon as I clear out some freezer space. For now though, I needed to move on, change things up, and bake a different kind of bread. I went back to the Breads from the La Brea Bakery book and chose the rosemary-olive oil bread recipe. In the headnote, this bread is described as having a "multifaceted flavor in which the rosemary is a strong but not overpowering element," and the olive oil coats "the gluten strands and make[s] a softer dough than usual." It was to have a uniform crumb and is basically a white dough flavored with herbs. This was perfect. A holey crumb was not the goal here, and that's the change in bread baking I needed.

As usual, the two-day dough process turned into three days for me because I always need to bring my sourdough starter to room temperature and feed it the day before mixing the dough. Then, on day two, the dough was mixed by combining water, white starter, bread flour, and wheat germ in a mixer with a dough hook. It was left for the autolyse, and there's a fantastic description of exactly what that 20 minute resting period is all about at A Bread a Day. After the autolyse, salt was added to the dough, and then chopped, fresh rosemary and olive oil were mixed in as well. It didn't seem like the olive oil was getting well-mixed into the dough in the mixer, so I transferred it to a board and kneaded by hand until the oil was incorporated. The dough was placed in an oiled bowl, covered, and left to ferment for about three and a half hours. It was then placed on a floured board, cut into two pieces and allowed to rest for a bit. After the rest, each piece was shaped into a boule, both were placed in proofing baskets, the baskets were covered, and the dough was left to rise at room temperature for an hour and a half. At that point, the baskets were covered with plastic and refrigerated for 12 hours. The next day, the baskets were removed from the refrigerator so the dough could warm up for a couple of hours before baking. I baked the two loaves at the same time on a baking stone, and the oven was spritzed with water from a spray bottle during the first five minutes of baking. After a total baking time of about 40 minutes, the loaves were browned and crisp on the surface.

As promised, the flavor from the rosemary was evident but not too strong. The tender texture of the crumb and the crispness of the crust were due to the olive oil. This made me excited about bread again. Not only did I finally have a couple of loaves that weren't failures, they were also very flavorful. This is a bread I'll look forward to baking and cutting into again, and then I'll think about going another round with ciabatta.

I’m submitting this to Yeastspotting where you’ll find some seriously well-made bread.



27 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous bread! Those are wonderful flavors. Very summer-like.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. Wow Lisa, this bread looks fabulous, all the work and wait well worth it. Great crumb texture, beautifully done! Have a wonderful week ahead!

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  3. The bread sounds terrific with rosemary, so crispy, excellent!

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  4. The bread is amazing - and that soup!
    Tremendous
    T x

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  5. I made rosemary and olive oil bread before but never a sourdough one. Yours looks so great, perfect with a salad or a bowl of soup.

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  6. I'm still working my way though Jim Lahey's book. I'm totally addicted to the no-knead method because it's delicious and it totally works with my busy schedule. But this is a gorgeous beauty and when I finally tire of Lahey's book, I will tackle this one.

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  7. I've avoided ciabatta because of my intense fear of failure. Sandwich loaves, I can do. Artisan breads...scare me. But this rosemary infused bread looks and sounds delicious!

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  8. I love the idea of rosemary and olive oil flavors in this bread. I bet pieces of olives would work well in this as well. Looks so delicious!

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  9. I can almost feel the crunch ! I love bread with a hint of herbs rather than being hit over the head with them. Yummy bread, well baked.

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  10. Just think of the crows of victory when you finally nail that ciabatta. :)

    This is a beautiful loaf. Love the texture.

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  11. Gorgeous loves! That crust is picture perfect. I need to pul La Brea back out again. I got so wrapped up in Tartine Bread I've ignored it. Shame on me judging by your results.

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  12. Rosemary and olive oil in a bread, sounds rather new and exotic to me!:) Don't give up just yet, practice makes perfect and this looks really great, a perfect motivation for you to continue baking bread, don't ya think?;)

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  13. Gorgeous bread Lisa! Love that crust look, so pretty.

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  14. Gorgeous loaves, Lisa! Wow. This is definitely an inspiring me to pull out my jim L. I bet the rosemary in this one was divine. Your crust is perfection...wish i had a piece now!

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  15. That loaf looks so perfect that you'd swear a professional made it. You are astounding! ;)
    I love La Brea bakery. In fact, every time my husband and I drive to LA, our last stop before driving back home is La Brea bakery, where we load up the backseat with bread and pastries.

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  16. A stunning loaf. I love la brea bakery's breads, believe it or not, you can get them at some of the supermarkets here in England. They are superb.
    *kisses* HH

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  17. The bread looks scrumptious! That's a masterpiece.

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  18. kudos for the sourdough starter as well as the final product. quite breathtaking. then again, anyone baking, eating or even smelling bread at the moment is a subject of some envy on my behalf as we're halfway through a two-week non-wheat/meat/dairy cleanse. shoot me.

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  19. Gorgeous bread, perfect texture!

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  20. Lisa, this bread is just so gorgeous & inspiring. I haven't ever made much bread, but this post is calling for me to bake some of this. Yum :)

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  21. i'm very much into the flavor and aroma of rosemary, and i think it's the perfect herb for bread. lovely work!

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  22. I admire you! I used to bake a lot of bread...and it's such a hard work! Olive and rosemary sound so good together, I'm sure it was very rewarding!
    :)

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  23. What a gorgeous bread! It looks better than anything you would find in an artisan bakery!

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  24. I admire your tenacity, Lisa. As you may know, I have yeastaphobia. And although I promised myself I would attempt at least one loaf of bread this past winter, it just didn't happen.

    Your bread looks heavenly! Rosemary, Olive oil, how can it not taste absolutely delicious!!!

    Thanks for sharing...

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  25. I can't believe you baked that bread in your oven at home. It looks like what I find in France, baked in wood-burning centuries' old ovens. Incredible.

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  26. Wonderful bread, Lisa! What a coincidence, this past weekend I made a bread with rosemary too, but unfortunately it did not work very well, I will repeat it in my regular oven soon.

    cannot win them all, can we? ;-)

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  27. sign, I bet your kitchen smelled like heaven when you pulled this from the oven. Slathered with a bit of butter, I can only imagine. You are an inspiration.

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