Fresh Thyme Bread With Olive Oil Recipes

FRESH THYME BREAD WITH OLIVE OIL

Steps:

• Combine very warm water and yeast in a large bowl. Stir with a fork until yeast dissolves. Let stand 3 minutes, then add the poolish, cool water, olive oil, and thyme. Combine with your fingers for about 2 minutes, breaking up sponge until yeast mixture looks milky and slightly foamy.
• Add flours and salt. Mix with your fingers to incorporate, scraping the bowl's sides and folding dough over itself until it gathers into a mass. When sticky strands of dough cling to your fingers, gather it into a ball and move it to a lightly floured surface. If dough is very firm, add 1 tablespoon water.
• Knead dough for about 5 minutes, until it becomes smoother and supple. Put the dough back into the mixing bowl, cover it with oiled plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes to smooth out and develop elasticity.
• Return the dough to the lightly floured survace and knead for 2 to 3 minutes, until smooth and stretchy. Do not knead extra flour into the dough. It should be soft and loose.
• Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the dough with oiled plastic wrap and allow it to rise at room temperature (75 to 78°F) for 1 hour. After one hour, turn the dough while it is still in the mixing bowl. Gently deflate the dough in the middle of the bowl with your fingertips, then fold the left side over the middle, and the right side over the middle. Fold the dough in half, gently pat it down, and then turn it over so the seam is underneath. Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap or a large plastic bag, and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 8 hours or overnight.
• Remove from refrigerator and let warm until it begins to rise again, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
• Cover a peel or the back of a sheet pan with parchment paper, then sprinkle with cornmeal. Place dough, which may be quite sticky, on a well-floured surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Shape each into a boule, or round loaf. Flour the seam of each and place loaves, seam side down, on peel or pan, leaving 3 to 4 inches between them for rising and spreading. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rise for 1 ¼ to 1 ¾ hours, or until loaves have doubled in bulk.
• Thirty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450°F. Fill a plastic spray bottle with water and place a small pan (such as a mini loaf pan) on the lowest possible rack of the electric oven. Also place a cast-iron pan (that you are willing to get rusty) next to the small pan (I just used another small pan), fill a teakettle with water to be boiled later, and have a metal 1-cup measure with a straight handle available near the kettle.
• Five to 10 minutes before the loaves are ready to bake, carefully place 2 or 3 ice cubes in the small pan in the bottom of the oven. This helps to create moisture in the oven prior to baking. If using a water pan, also turn the water on to boil.
• Mist the tops of the loaves with water, then using a razor blade, cut a shallow tick-tack-toe pattern on top of each loaf, being careful not to tear dough. Gently slide loaves from the parchment onto the baking stone (if you're baking with a stone simply slide the sheet pan onto the empty oven rack). Pour 1 cup of boiling water into the cast-iron pan and immediately shut oven door. After about 1 minute, quickly mist loaves with water 6 to 8 times, then shut the oven door.
• Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 400°F and bake 10 to 15 minutes longer, until loaves are light golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Brush loaves with olive oil using a pastry brush. Cool on a rack.

GARLIC-THYME BREAD

Steps:

• In a medium mixing bowl, combine yeast and water, and allow to stand in a warm place for 10 minutes or until foamy.
• Stir in oil, salt, garlic, thyme, and whole wheat flour.
• Add white flour 1/4 cup at a time, as needed, until a stiff manageable dough is formed.
• Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 to 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic.
• Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled.
• (For even more garlicky flavour, after the dough has risen once, punch it down and place in refrigerator for 1 to 3 days. Let it come to room temperature, and then proceed with the following directions.) Preheat oven to 450° and dust a baking sheet with cornmeal.
• If desired, work a bit of parmesan-reggiano into the dough at this point with some olive oil for extra flavour.
• Form the dough into a round, place on prepared cooking sheet, cover with plastic, and let rise for 30 minutes.
• Brush lightly with cold water, bake for 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 400° and continue baking for 20-30 minutes, or until loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.

SUPER EASY ROSEMARY BREAD MACHINE BREAD

Steps:

• Pour the water into the pan of a bread machine, then sprinkle in the yeast and sugar. Let the mixture sit in the bread machine until a creamy foam forms on top of the water, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle in the salt, then add olive oil, thyme, garlic powder, rosemary, and flour. Set the machine for light crust setting, and start the machine.

OVERNIGHT GREEN OLIVE, SHALLOT AND THYME FOCACCIA BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and yeast. Add in the water and stir with a sturdy wooden spoon or a Danish whisk to make a sticky, shaggy dough that comes together. Coat a large plastic or metal bowl completely with the oil. Transfer the dough to the prepared bowl and turn to coat completely in the oil.
• Cover the bowl with a tight-fitting lid so no air can enter the bowl. Leave on the countertop overnight, or in the fridge for up to 2 days, for the flavor to develop.
• Oil a 13-by-9-inch rimmed baking sheet generously with olive oil, making sure to get all the corners. Gently slide the dough into the prepared pan (it should be very soft) and use your fingers to spread it into the corners. (If the dough has been chilling in the fridge, remove it and let it rest in a warm place until it is puffy and soft, 30 minutes to 1 hour, before transferring.)
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Use the pads of your fingers to dimple the entire surface of the dough. Sprinkle the olives over the top, poking some down inside the bread. Scatter the shallots and thyme over the top. Drizzle generously with oil and scatter over the flaky salt. Bake, rotating once, until the top is evenly golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool slightly, then slide out of the pan. Drizzle with honey. Slice and serve warm. Eat within 24 hours or wrap well and freeze for up to 1 month.

OLIVE OIL SALT BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°; grease an 8-inch skillet or square baking pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil.
• Put the flour, baking powder, and salt in a food processor and turn the machine on.
• Pour through the feed tube first 1/3 cup of the olive oil, then most of 1 cup of warm water.
• Process about 30 seconds, then remove the cover; the dough should be in a well-defined, barely sticky, easy-to-handle ball; if it is too dry, add the remaining water 1 tablespoon at a time and process for 5-10 seconds after each addition; if it is too wet, which is unlikely, add a tablespoon or two of flour and process briefly.
• Put the dough into the prepared pan and press until it fits to the edges.
• Flip it over and press again; cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes; then remove the foil; sprinkle the top with a little coarse salt, and bake for another 20-25 minutes, until the top is golden and springs back when touched gently.
• Cool in the pan a bit, then cut into wedges or squares and serve.