Ina loves to drive to her favorite bakery for croissants and fresh breads, mainly from Loaves and Fishes! Unfortunately my favorite bakery (Tartine in Santa Monica) is about 55 miles from home. Their sour dough bread is to die for! Or if the craving hits for a heady and tender loaf of Rosemary Bread, a trip to Macaroni Grill is a must - this too is not close by. So I had to teach myself bread baking! Right equipment, temperatures, good fresh ingredients and some extra love is a guarantee for successful bread baking process. Rosemary Bread in particular is easy! As this bread baked in the oven paired with tons of fresh Rosemary makes the house smell no less than a popular bakery! It's amazingly delicious served warm with peppery olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar for dipping.
Servings: 8
Cook Time: 25 minutes Rise: 3 hours Ready in: 3 hours 45 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup warm water (110-112 degrees) divided (1/4 cup for activating the yeast and 3/4 cup for mixing in the flour)
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp granulated sugar
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil divided (1 Tbsp for the dough, 1 Tbsp for brushing the baking sheet, 1Tbsp to brush the top of loaves once bake).
2 1/2 - 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided (1 1/2 cups for the first mix and 1 cup for final mix) plus more for dusting
4 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp fine salt
1/4 tsp kosher salt (optional)
Aged balsamic vinegar and freshly ground black pepper, for serving
Instructions
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, whisk together 1/4 cup water, and sugar until yeast has dissolved. Allow to rest 1 minutes.
Add 1 Tbsp olive oil, remaining 3/4 cup warm water, 1 1/2 cups flour, the rosemary and fine salt and using the paddle attachment blend mixture until combined.
Switch attachment on stand mixer to a hook attachment, add in 1 cup more flour and knead mixture on medium speed until smooth an elastic, adding additional flour as needed if dough is sticking to bowl. The dough should be a little sticky.
Cover bowl and allow to rest in a warm place until more than doubled, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
Scoop dough out and divide into two equal portions.
Grease a rimmed baking sheet with 1 Tbsp olive oil.
Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and shape dough portions into ovals while folding tops into middle, tucking and pinching seams to build structure.
Transfer to prepared baking sheet spacing evenly apart and allow to rest, uncovered, until more than doubled about 1 1/2 hours. Preheat oven to 400 degrees during last 10 minutes of rising.
Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes, the remove from oven and brush loaves with remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil and sprinkle tops evenly with kosher salt.
Return to oven and bake 10 - 15 minutes longer until golden brown. Serve warm with a mixture of olive oil and freshly ground black pepper for dipping.
Recipe adapted from Food Network
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