This is the first recipe I baked from my new copy of Dan Lepard's "The Handmade Loaf". The book is beautifully illustrated and has breads from all over Europe that are unique and well described. The official name of this bread doesn't do justice to the ingredients list. Lurking in the list are 100g of olives and olive oil that help make the dough smooth and delicious. I thought the final dough was a touch dry, so I added a couple Tablespoons additional water. In the end I might have added a little to much but it was quite a nice dough by the time I got to the stretch and fold part.  The method calls for final shaping on a baking sheet coated with oil. I used parchment with a small amount of oil rubbed in. Dan calls for semolina or corn meal to be sprinkled on the top. That gives the bread a nice texture on the surface.

I baked this at 420F for 30 minutes and then lowered the heat to 390F when I turned the loaf for color. It was browning nicely at that point. My finished bread is quite a bit darker than the one in the book and the profile isn't as flat as shown. I did dimple the top with my fingers just before loading but I was taking care not to deflate the dough. Still, you can see by the pre-bake image, it did spring nicely.

The flavor is delicious. I would say the predominate taste is from the olives but I can taste the Thyme in the background. The Thyme may improve with time if it lasts that long. This is a keeper and I know will be a hit with the family.

This is the second bread from Mr. Lepard I have baked that tastes unique and better than the ingredients would lead you to expect. I think I am going to enjoy exploring here.

Eric

I'm a newbie breadophile and I've been baking nonstop for about three months.  Most stuff I make is good, with the occasional clunked.  This came out so good I wanted to share.  We had a large family gathering on Christmas Eve so I wanted to make a special bread.  I found this recipe on Food Network's site...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/three-tiered-braided-christmas-bread-recipe/index.html

It's essentially three separately flavored bread loaves braided into one big un, the flavors being olive, sun dried tomoato and pesto.  The only thing I changed in the recipe was instead of making the three pastes to flavor the bread I bought 8-ounce containers of pre-made from Whole Foods.  At $4 a pop it was cheaper in the long run and saved some time on an already hectic morning or party prep.  The picture below shows the pre-baked loaf before the final rise:

Here's the finished product:

It was a jaw dropper once it was on the table, people were blown away.  It's relatively simple to make except my wife had to explain how to make a braid.  The crust was great, the bread itself was super moist and tasty.  I didn't take a picture of the crumb because I didn't want to dig into it before the guests arrived and when they did I was too busy playing host to snap a shot.

Overall a highly recommended project for a special occasion.

Hey there everybody. Well about a month ago I asked for some advice in creating a 'Peasant Loaf', more specifically a Kalamata loaf, and I had lots of great suggestions and recipes. Anyways, this is what I came up with and it's derived mostly from the recipe AnnieT posted in the original thread (Dan Lepard's recipe), a recipe Bob (Oldcampcook) sent me, and my rustic white recipe that Eric (ehanner) blogged about not too long ago. Thanks so much everyone; I'll try to post the recipe as a PDF here so as not to clog up this thread too much.
EDIT: Unlike on the recipe, I now add the olive oil mixture at the beginning of the mixing at the same time as the water.  Also, I'm now baking this loaf and all of my other without bannetons - just shaped freeform on parchment paper.  Oh, and for you technical types, this is a description of the sequence pics below from left to right and top to bottom:
fold at 1 hour; fold at 2 hours
shaping; just placed in bannetons
after proofing for 80 minutes; scoring before baking
They were baked on the parchment/pan for 20 minutes, then removed w/ a peel and baked on the oven rack (with a pan below to catch any drips) for 15 minutes

-Mark

kalamata sequence

loaf

crumb

Hey there everybody,
So I'm courting some new business even though we're not quite open yet, and one of the prospectives is a wine and cheese/gourmet shop. The owner was describing something he desired for the shop in addition to some of the stuff I already offer. Anyway, I said, "Like a peasant loaf?" and he said, "Exactly." I asked him what ingredients he specifically was looking for and he said, "Kalamata olives, and possibly rosemary."
So, does anybody have a kick butt recipe for a loaf that has at least olives in it? Thanks.
For those interested, I'll be posting pix soon of the finished bakery!

-Mark

thebackhomebakery.com

So for a while I've been meaning to start documenting my baking a little better, and contribute a bit more to this wonderful site, and today! today is the day.

Olive Bread - Sourdough Yeast Hybrid (1)