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Olive Bread

List of Ingredients




1 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups bread machine flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon bread dough enhancer (optional)
1/2 to 1 cup pitted kalamata olives, cut into 2 to 4 pieces

Place all ingredients except olives into bread machine in order prescribed by manufacturer. Set machine to "mix bread, light crust". Check dough about 5 minutes into knead cycle. It should be pretty stiff at this point, even dry.

Add olives at machine's signal, which should come about 10 minutes before end of final kneading cycle.

Chances are, dough will become a wet, sloppy mess after olives are added.

Add up to an extra 1/2 cup of flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough forms a sticky ball that clears sides of pan but leaves small ring at the bottom.

(As an example, this olive bread recently was baked on a hot, humid day and used a full cup of olives. It took an extra 6 tablespoons of flour to get the dough to the proper consistency.)

Allow machine to continue operating, stopping it after dough has risen but before it begins baking (this will be about 90 minutes from start to finish.) Put dough in gallon-size plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.

(If the machine finishes the knead cycle before the dough has achieved the proper ratio of flour to water, stop and restart it, but don't go through the whole cycle. As soon as the consistency feels about right, stop the machine again, and allow the dough to rise in the pan until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours. Deflate the dough, put it in a gallon-size plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.)

Allow dough to rise for 2 to 4 hours in stoneware baker that's been oiled and dusted with cornmeal. The dough will be fully risen when it's doubled in bulk, and when a finger pressed onto surface leaves an indentation.

Take sharp knife, and slash diagonally about five times. Brush top of loaf with cold water, cover baker with lid, place in cold oven, turn temperature to 400 degrees, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake for 10 to 25 additional minutes until bread is golden brown.

Makes one 1 1/2-pound loaf.

Notes: Be sure to use the kalamata olives. They're the only kind strong enough to stand up to the action of the kneading blade.
Because of the high water content and the olives, this is an extremely wet, heavy loaf. Bread dough enhancer will help the bread rise, although the bread will taste delightful without it.

Recipe