Kalamata Loaf
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
Mark, those loaves look great and I hope your customers buy them by the dozen! How clever of you to combine those recipes and add your own touches and come up with a winner. Did it take a lot of trial and error? Well done, and I hope the bakery is going well, A.
A,
It did take some trial and error, mostly just adjusting the amount of olives, spices, and cheese to figure out the amount we wanted to get in each slice. The olives and cheese both started out in bigger pieces, but the hydration was just a substitution of olive oil for water. The salt may still need adjusting-if the olives are washed after they are sliced it makes them more mellow, but if they're washed before they're sliced or they are used in larger pieces, they hold more salt and the salt should probably be reduced in the dough.
-Mark
http://thebackhomebakery.com
looks great. Thanks for sharing your formula. Can't wait to try this...I have plenty of fresh rosemary and thyme. My husband loves kalamatas, herbs and the pepperjack should send him over the edge!!
How's the bakery biz going? Glad you stopped by, keep us posted!!
Thanks. As you know, the bakery biz is just getting rolling, so it's pretty sporadic right now. We have a farmer's market each Tuesday that we're using to get the word out, so that's working well. Within the next month I think I'll have a better idea of the direction we'll be heading. I still have a bunch of potential places to hit up, so that'll be fun.
As for the olive loaf, let me know how it works out for you. I baked it in a convection oven at 400 for 35 minutes, plus 3 initial minutes in the beginning with the oven off when I steamed it. It ended up being a little (2 minutes) longer than what I bake my normal rustic white and multigrain, so maybe just use the timing and temp for your regular loaves as your guideline.
-Mark
http://thebackhomebakery.com
I like the method Mark and the ingredient combination looks interesting. Blending the oil first and then adding the olives will make it easier to get the olives actually incorporated. I have had trouble with that.
Great post Mark, thanks for sharing. I'm drooling!
Eric
Hey just do me a favor and don't post any pictures of the olive loaves you make from this recipe unless they look worse than mine.
-Mark
http://thebackhomebakery.com
Very nice looking loaf. Thanks for posting the great instructional pics and the recipe. I'll give it a try in the near future. Hope all is going well with the new business.
Howard - St. Augustine, FL
Thanks for the compliment, Howard. The business is getting there; hey it's just a relief to be focusing on recipes and baking rather than vinyl cove base and the septic system. Let me know how that recipe works for you and any suggestions you might have.
-Mark
http://thebackhomebakery.com
Mark,
Thanks. Glad to hear things are settling down and you can do something that gives you real satisfaction instead of dealing with contractors and bureaucrats. Hang in there... and I'll let you know how things go with the recipe.
Howard - St. Augustine, FL
What can I substitute for the pepperjack cheese ? as we dont have that over here in rainy old England!!!
The bread looks great though so maybe thats next on the list to make especially if its raining tomorrow.
Cheers
Dave W
I suppose any semi-firm cheese that you feel would go well with olives. This is the first bread I'd made with cheese, so maybe someone else will suggest another that would work well.
-Mark
http://thebackhomebakery.com
I think feta would be great with the olives...
...that's exactly what my wife suggested...
http://thebackhomebakery.com
think alike!! maybe a just touch of basil...what does she think? I'm having a hard time between just a touch of basil, sun dried tomatoes, lemon peel or garlic. My husband..best with coordinating flavors..says roasted garlic.
(something in Red) is all I can think to add to the above comments. Great looking loaves, Mark and thanks for sharing.
Mini O
Yes, I guess it would go well with it. And I suppose you'll be suggesting the scenery next?
http://thebackhomebakery.com
I did write "hint" meaning (in my case): a very small trace of something. I'm not trying to be overpowering just peasantish. Never meant a whole tablecloth. Am I forgiven?
Mini O
Of course you're forgiven. I was replying in jest and I hope you took it that way. Sometimes my witty (or so I'd like to think) sarcasm doesn't come through in the typing.
-Mark
http://thebackhomebakery.com
Hi Mark,
Although the bread looks and sounds mighty tasty, can I ask you a couple of questions about what you're shown using in the pics?
Could you take a shot of your slashing knife so I can see what a real pro uses? The new (never used for anything else) paring knife I'm using now seems to have problems cutting through dough and I was wondering how much of that is me and my crappy slashing skills and how much is the knife itself. I know this sound like "the poor craftsman blaming his tools" but I also recall my art teacher drumming into our heads "Get the best tools you can; DaVinci may have been able to paint a masterpiece with a toothbrush but you can't. Use good tools so you're learning the technique, not how to fight a bad brush."
Second, I see you use the plastic brotforms and I was curious how you found them. I'm guessing you like them, of course since you use them but I'm curious how you'd say they compare with the more taditional willow/cane type.
I'm not even close enough to pulling off consistent "normal" bread yet to attempt getting into add-ons so I'll just stick to your Whole Wheat and Rustic White recipes for now and try to get those to a good, dependable level. They're a hit with my "But I like sliced white bread!" better half so that's a major plus.
--------
Paul
Paul,
tomato/bagel knife
This is a picture of the knife I use for scoring. It's a 5" Calphalon tomato/bagel knife from Bed Bath and Beyond and I think was in the $20 range.
TFLers Eric and Howard are real happy with their 'PureKomachi 5" tomato knife', so you may want to look into that. I think the large serrations (as opposed to the smaller ones on a Ginsu type knife) help out and make it a lot easier to clean 'on the fly'. When they get gunked up, you can just do a quick scrape with your bench scraper and keep working, rather than getting it wet and washing and drying it.
Because I've never used the 'real' bannetons, I'll just speak of the plastic ones. I have 2 types of plastic bannetons. Some are completely enclosed like a bowl (which don't allow the loaves to breathe like a basket does) and some which are 'ringed' with gaps that allow the loaves to breathe. I actually prefer the non-breathing ones simply because their texture holds more flour and being closed they are less likely to allow a slack dough to seep through the gaps and consequently stick. I think the plastic ones are adequate, however they do produce a slightly different result (thinner top crust due to the top not drying out); perhaps like comparing covering your dough with saran wrap as compared to a cloth.
BTW, if you haven't yet tried my Portuguese Sweet Bread recipe, your 'better half' might like that one. It's not that sweet and it goes great with burgers, chili, or jam in the morning. I always make the dough into rolls. Lots of kids even like to eat them plain! Plus it's fun to work with. Let me know if you want that recipe. Hope this helps.
-Mark
http://thebackhomebakery.com
The plastic bannetons are available at SFBI. I've never used them..so can't comment. I love my brotforms, which lucky for me, I got on Ebay at a bargain price. As for slashing tools..an earlier post, http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/7122/ultimate-slashing-tool#comment-36005 , I also favor a larger tooth serrated knife.
I just wanted to let you know that I made your recipe for this bread, I didn't add the cheese, but after adding the olives I split the dough into two and left one piece to rise with just the olives and the other I folded in about 45 g of sun dried tomatoes. They were great, I will definitely be making this again.
bakermomof4,
Glad to hear that you enjoyed the recipe, and it sounds like your adaptations were good ones. I just made a couple of loaves today, and one extra for us since my wife had been hinting that she hadn't had any for a looong time.
-Mark
I use the same bannetons as does Mark, mainly because I got them from him. Once he coached me in how to properly flour them, my bread are looking pretty good.
I also use one of his adapted recipes and it is now my "go to" recipe. Guess I am going to have to try the Sweet Bread after all. Sigh.
Thanks, Mark! (dryly)
Bob
I have been wanting to try his sweetbread also, but when I make Portuguese Sweetbread, I always use one of our family recipes as I did recently for Easter. Will have to try his though.