Olive and Cilantro - Two Ways!

I have been dipping my toes into breads with added goodies recently. My favorite part of bread with goodies is biting into a slice and getting a little surprise of olives/raisins/nuts/ etc. I think it adds a nice textural variance to the bread. I haven't made a loaf with olives yet, so when I found this recipe in Hammelman's Bread and had to give it a try. The loaves are about 65% hydration, 20% olives, 10% whole wheat, and naturally leavened. I ended up making a fougasse and a batard. Please excuse the large chunk of fougasse missing here. I couldn't resist. :)

I have a few take aways that might help YOU in your next baking endeavor:

1. I did not develop sufficient dough strength since the batard spread out all over the baking stone and didn't have much rise. I either needed to slap and fold more after mixing or get more stretch and folds in during the bulk ferment.

2. Cutting the fougasse before baking needs to be done on parchment paper before loading onto the hot baking stone. Then baking it just enough to make it crispy, but still soft inside. Texture is everything here. 

3. Cut the olives in half but keep the large chunks since those are great to bite into. Next time, I would like to add some garlic and ground pepper for more flavor. 

Happy baking.
-Rustic Rye