Now America's best-loved bread-baking authority returns with the 30th anniversary edition of the New Complete Book of Breads, the definitive version of this baking classic. Clayton has written a new introduction, added a glossary, updated the sections on ingredients and equipment, and gone through every recipe, correcting and refining each one. The inviting new design keeps Clayton's explicit, easy-to-follow instructional format and makes the book easy to use. Clayton revised 200 of the original recipes and added 100 more with these new ingredients and equipment in mind.
Olives pop up in the most unexpected places, and none more surprising than a loaf of Italian bread, rich in eggs and butter It is almost as rewording to look at a slice of olive bread, of black and green olives sheared off by the bread knife in a mosaic pattern, as it is to hove it for brunch and snacking.
This Italian-born bread is mode throughout that country with one or two of many kinds of olives - Spanish-style green ones stuffed with pimiento, ripe black ones, and salt cured as well as the black nicoise-style berries (which is what they really are). Authentic olive breads often are made with unpitted olives, but then expect some hard bites.
This recipe is adapted from one in Sunset magazine, published in California, where olives of a quality equal to the Italian are harvested. While I lived for many years in San Francisco and environs, and traveled Italy extensively, I had never tasted bread made with olives until I baked this loaf in my Indiana kitchen.
For a large gathering this recipe can easily be doubled and baked in one long loaf. Great for an autumn tailgate party and served with thin slices of cured ham, hard-boiled eggs, or a ripened goat cheese.
Makes one loaf
2 1/2 to 3 cups bread or all-purpose flour
1 package dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup hot water (120-130 degrees F)
2 eggs
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup green pimiento-stuffed olives
1/2 cup pitted ripe black olives (or other olives of choice)
1 egg yolk, beaten
BAKING SHEET: 1 baking sheet (14x16-inch), greased, Teflon, or sprinkled with cornmeal.
BY HAND OR MIXER: 15 minutes
In a mixing or mixer bowl pour 2 cups flour and add the dry ingredients. Stir to blend. Form a well in the flour and pour in the hot water. With a wooden spoon pull flour into the water to form a batter. Break the eggs and drop into the batter. Vigorously stir the eggs and batter together until the eggs have been absorbed. Cut the butter into 2 or 3 pieces and drop into the mixture. With a wooden spoon or mixer flat beater, mix until the batterlike dough is smooth and silky, about 2 minutes.
Stir in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough is a ball and can be turned out of the bowl onto a floured work surface. The dough should not be sticky because of the high fat content of the butter and eggs. But if it is, add sprinkles of flour.
KNEADING: 8 minutes Knead by hand or under a dough hook until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Knead with a strong push-turn-fold motion, and occasionally lift the dough and throw it back onto the work surface. Be aggressive.
BY PROCESSOR: 2 minutes
Attach the steel blade.
Place 2 cups flour in the work bowl and add the dry ingredients. Pulse to blend. Remove the cover and add the hot water, eggs, and butter. Turn on the machine for 30 seconds.
Add flour, 1/4 cup at a time, through the feed tube, pulsing after each addition.
KNEADING: 45 seconds When the batter becomes dough and begins to clean the sides of the bowl, knead for 45 seconds. During kneading, the dough will ride with or on the blade.
FIRST RISING: 1 1/2 hours
Place the dough in a greased bowl and set aside at room temperature to rise. Because of its richness, the dough is slow to begin rising, but it will double in bulk in about 1 1/2 hours.
SHAPING: 15 minutes
Drain the olives and mix the green and black ones together so they can be uniformly scattered over the dough. Set aside.
Punch down the dough and turn onto the floured work surface. Pat and push the dough into a 14-inch square. Allow it to relax for 3 or 4 minutes before scattering the olives. Press the olives lightly into the dough.
Roll up the dough as for a jelly roll to enclose the olives and place seam side down on a baking sheet. Tuck the open ends of the dough under to make a smooth surface. Pat the loaf to flatten and shape into an oval about 2-inches thick.
SECOND RISING: 30 minutes
Cover the loaf with wax paper or plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until puffy, about 30 minutes.
PREHEAT
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F 20 minutes before baking.
BAKING: 350 degrees F 45 minutes
Uncover the loaf and brush with the beaten egg yolk.
Bake in the oven until richly browned, about 45 minutes. (If using a convection oven, reduce heat 50 degrees.)
FINAL STEP
Place on a rack to cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
If made ahead, let cool, package airtight, and let stand overnight at room temperature. Freeze to store longer; let thaw, wrapped, for at least 6 hours. To reheat, place the unwrapped loaf in a 325 degree F oven for 20 to 30 minutes.
The bread is delicious sliced and toasted. Spread slices with anchovy or unsalted butter.
