Cooking - Artisanal Bread Made at Home

Sundried Tomato and Olive Tapenade Bread

It's all the rage - this artisanal bread. Loaves lovingly handcrafted by the baker and sold for around $5.95 (ouch) each. That's what I paid at Whole Foods in Chicago last week for a loaf that was, admittedly good but the price...!

Up here at the cabin it's more often about make do than follow a recipe - with the closest supermarket a good 35 mile round trip away, I find myself scrambling to improvise. Today was a good example. No bread, some wonderful cheeses demanding bread and, the possibility of drop ins for lunch.

I've made a sun dried tomato loaf in the past and that was the plan today - but when she got there, the cupboard was bare! All the tomatoes I put up a few weeks ago save for two lounging in olive oil in the back of the fridge had gone the way of pizza toppings. Improvisation time. The resulting Sundried Tomato and Olive Bread is dense, rich, flecked with the tomatoes and olives, crunchy and, just screams "bring on the cheese"!




My two precious oil drenched tomatoes were coarsely chopped along with eight Greek olives to make a tapenade - you can substitute a store bought tapenade. Use about two tablespoons. If you are rich in sun dried tomatoes use half a dozen of them. Chop coarsly before incorporating into the dough.

• 1 packet dry yeast
• 1/4 cup water - warm to the touch but not "ouch" hot
• big pinch of sugar

Put the water in a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast on top followed by the sugar. Do not stir. Leave for about 15 minutes or until a kind of crusty film has formrd on the surface and there are active bubbles.


Put in the bowl of a food processor

• 2.5 Cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup coarse grind yellow cornmeal
• 1 TBS. olive oil
• 1 tsp. Maldon sea salt

Pulse 6 or more times to blend. Add the yeast mixture, pulse 3 or 4 times. Next step is the ONLY tricky one in this process. Add ~ 1/3 cup of warm water to the yeast bowl , swirl around to get all the clinging bits and pour into the processor. Put another 1/3cup warm water next to the processsor. Pulse in short bursts until the dough starts to clump. Add additional water a few drops at a time. Pulse in between adding. You want to get your dough to form a soft log or ball in the processor. As soon as all the dough is sticking together stop adding water and process until you have a shiny ball of dough - usually about 30 seconds.

ADD the tapanade. Pulse until roughly incorporated into the dough.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead using your fists dor about 5 minutes (it's a good work out! You want a smooth, shiny ball of dough.

Drizzle a tsp. or so of olive oil into a proofing bowl, Pop your dough into the bowl, turning it to coat with the oil , cover with a clean cloth and let stand in a draught free place until double in size. At least an hour. This is a dense dough, not a light and fluffy one so don't expect it to ooze over the side of the bowl as it rises.

When doubled in size, tip out onto a floured surface, punch down and knead about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball by sccoping fingers of one hand under the dough and use the heel of your other hand to rotate the ball. Dust a pizza paddle or cutting board with a good sprinkle of cornmeal and flour, set the dough on it and let rise again, covered, until double.
Note: I use a Frieling Round Brotform 1-Pound Bread Rising Basket available from Amazon ~ $30. I've had mine 10 plus years now.


Place a bread or pizza stone on the middle shelf of your oven. Pre-heat oven to 425F. Before it comes to temperature sprinkle coarse corn meal on the stone to prevent the loaf from sticking and to give it a crunchy bottom.

When the oven is ready, grab a couple of ice cubes and have them close by. Either tip the dough gently from the basket onto the stone or slide it from the paddle. Toss the two uice cubes onto the bottom of the oven. Bake for 10 minutes. reduce heat to 400F bake an additional 20 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when you "knock" on the bottom.




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