February 9, 2014 - 9:49pm
Tartine Olive & Herb Loaf + Boule & Batard Levain
Oddly, all this time baking bread, I have never tried making an olive loaf. I love olive loaves but for some reason never attempted one until now. Having just recently been given the Tartine book as a gift, I used the idea of using olives, herbs and lemon zest. I also baked up a few levain loaves to fix that San Francisco sourdough craving I have been having.
Levain Batard
Tartine Olive Herb Loaf
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Comments
This is really good!! Its a lot better when compare to mine.
What kinda herbs did u use
Thank you Cecilia but your whole grain Tartine loaf turned out great!
I used Herbes de Provence (less the savory)..rosemary, oregano, crushed fennel seed, thyme, basil and marjoram.
I used only a tsp in the one loaf. Could have used a bit more. The flavour of the olives sure do come through nicely.
Happy baking and thanks for dropping by!
John
Until I would be able to do a decent Tartine loaf, this would definitely be my next task. Very Inspiring and gorgeous looking loaf and nice oven spring thou' I could easily have a slice of that and thanks for sharing this. Cheers !!! Nora
I appreciate your comments Nora. I hope some success with your Tartine adventures soon! I know, it is a lengthy process to end up with a loaf you are not happy with. I almost gave up on it after the first few attempts.
Happy baking.
John
Yum! I've never baked an olive loaf either and your post is inspiring. I will definitely try this at some point.
Hi Julie.
You have posted some great Tartine results lately so you should definitely give the olive a try. Doesn't even have to be a Tartine loaf. Just shove em in there!
John
Great Bake John, if I might suggest, next time toast the Herbs in a fairly hot pan to release their volitale oils that could make a differance. Nice bold bake and great crumb.
Cheers,
Wingnut
Thank you Wingnut. I typically toast my spices but never dried herbs. I will try that however. I toasted the fennel seed then crushed them. I appreciate your comments...been so busy lately, but I will make time to check out your latest adventures.
Take care.
John
on the SFSD is impressive indeed. I love olive bread too but the girls hate olives so I have to send them out of town so we can make some, I to like a green and black olive blend - the saltier the better.
I like to put lavender in HdP too - with the savory. Don't like lavender otherwise too much but HdP does make some for some great pickle spices. Nice bread and
Happy baking John
I don't do a select ll and save pefoe saving - shouldnlt have to do that - not ever.
Anyway John, I was saying iove olive bread too but don't get to make it much because the girls hate olives. Love the spring on the SFSD too. Love the green and black olive mix . Got to have savory and lavender in H de P, even though i don't use or like them in much of anything else. ;-)
Well done and Happy baking John - Business has bee kepping you busy it seems - a good sign.
Thanks dabrowny! Good to hear from you. Yes, extremely busy since my return from San Fran. Thus the absence of posts.
Of course, lavender...forgot that one, and yet I do have some dried from last summer in the wifey's bath basket. Thanks for reminding me.
Hmmmm...how to get your girls to like olives....let's work on that one. No one should be without the enjoyment of these salty little oil bulbs. This summer I will be roasting up some serrano chilies to stuff some large green olives, along with a sliver of garlic.
Hope to see some of your bakes soon, and have the time to view!
John
Both loaves looks great John,splendid crumb and crust!
I wish I was more of a fan of olive bread but the ones I've had and the few I've baked myself have never done much for me. Odd, because I like olives, and bread of course, and often have the two together on a plate, but for some reason don't enjoy them baked together. Yours does look and sound very good though, and perhaps it would be the one to finally win me over to olive bread.
All the best, and hope you're enjoying the long weekend
Hey Franko. Great to hear from you and thanks for the comments.
Actually, the olives I chose in this bread are quite strong flavoured so perhaps they would not work for you. Try a loaf with nothing but black olives. The kind you find on pizzas. Those are very mild in flavour and are a great way to break your palette into an olive loaf. As long as you don't dislike olives, it should be enjoyable to you. I admit that if you chose the wrong olives, they can be quite stringent in a mild flavoured bread such as a Tartine loaf.
Anyway, the Tartine loaf finally turned out the way I would have liked. Even though I have not tried the real Tartine yet, I have a feeling I hit the mark pretty close from what Chad describes. Getting it this good with Robin Hood flour, I can't wait to try it with Anita's flours!
Happy baking Franko.
John
This reads as Very tasty and a great looking loaf.
Thanks! Always appreciate your Darwinian comments.
John
That looks terrific. Thanks for the baking pictures. -Varda
Thanks Varda. You should try one...very interesting combination.
John
Great looking loaves John. Nice photography too! I hate olives myself unless it's in the olive oil :). Very nice crust and crumb structure. Glad to see you posting again.
Ian
Thanks Ian. Got a new Nikon camera for Bday so looking forward to using it in future posts. Been super busy with work so baking and posting have suffered.
John
So did you taste the lemon from the zest? I tried using lemon juice once but I used too much and it screwed up the fermentation and I ended up with food for the squirrels...
Hi Ian.
Thanks for the comments. No actually, the zest didn't come through at all, but that is probably due to being shy on the amount. I was afraid it would come through too much. The herb and olive flavour sure did come through though. I was VERY surprised at the sweetness of the batard and boule (non olive loaves). No sourness at all but very sweet from the ww flour.
I believe it would probably be too late in life to try liking olives...that's too bad. I eat them by the fist full sometimes.
John
Looks very tasty indeed.
Me, I love olives too and am drooling over the gorgeous pictures. Nice work.
I need to bake more breads like this, I am inspired...
Michael
Well thank you Michael...coming from the guy who bakes up the dauntingly and picture perfect Panettone, I take that as a great compliment.
The herbs and olives in this loaf are very addicting...Just had a slice of it today, 6 days old, it tastes great and is still quite tender in crumb. I suggest you try this one very soon.
John
John: I made the Tartine loaf from the recipe I have used in the past, but added more Herbes de Provence and lemon zest per your suggestion. I added marinated Kalamata and green olives and used the juice, which had more herbs, olive oil and garlic. It is cooling now, so I will post a blog with the crumb once it has cooled. Very excited and thanks for the inspiration! Phyllis
You're welcome Phyllis and please do let me know how it all turned out!
John
John: I think it turned out well, but I might use even more lemon zest....only tasted it on the first bite, and i did the whole lemon and more herbs as well....I took your advice and did a bit more and used a tablespoon. I think I might even try a few more olives. But overall, it was good. My husband enjoyed it. I posted a blog (giving you full credit for inspiration!); it's up on the bottom of the home page now. Here is a photo of the crumb: