Hello Again.

My, it's been a while since I've posted. I think I'll catch up chronologically, but over several posts to break it up a bit. I've been pretty busy the past three days. My last post was about Tuesday, so that leaves Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to "report" on.

Wednesday evening was the Christmas party with grade school friends, so I spent the morning baking a really yummy bread:


I also finished up the mini-Weasley for the gift exchange:

(initial added at the party).

Anyway, the bread was a *really* yummy bread I first tried earlier this month at the department holiday party. Here's the recipe as given to me (my comments in bold):

Spiral olive and cheese-filled bread.
Jason Sewall

A caveat: I'm not a very precise cook, so my instructions should be
taken with a grain of salt (no pun intended).

The ingredients:

For the bread:
4 cups flour
1-1 1/4 cups room temp. water (I had to use more, but I'm also in really dry Winnipeg)
1 tablespoon yeast
2 tablespoons salt (I'm thinking he must mean *teaspoons*... that's what I used here)

For the filling:
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounce shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup of Parmesan, grated
1/2 lb kalamata olives (pitted)
1 tablespoon oregano (given the previous typo, I used less oregano and basil too, but this amount may be okay)
1 tablespoon basil

Instructions:

The bread:
Put 1/2 of the water in a large bowl, add yeast.
Stir until mixed, let sit for a few minutes.
Add 1/2 the flour and all of the salt an mix until smooth (should be thick but not done).
Add the rest of the flour and mix/knead until smooth, then turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or so. (Keep in mind that these ratios are off the top of my head; I'm constantly adding a little more flour and a little more water. Rely on intuition to get the right consistency).

It's best to let the dough sit for several hours - the more times you let it rise, the better it tastes. Put it in the fridge if you're going to leave it overnight, and cover it no matter what you do. When the dough has risen to the point where it doesn't spring back out when you poke it, it's risen as much as possible and you should "punch" it back down. For bread, I recommend you let it rise at least once prior to shaping the dough.

When you're ready to put it all together:
With room temperature dough, clear several feet of counter space and flour (or oil) it. Hand-roll the dough between your hands to make a long, thin snake (diameter of 1-2 inches). Lay the dough along your counter and with a rolling pin, roll it out so it's very thin (probably no more than 1/4 inch). You should have something that's 3 or 4 feet long, 3-4 inches wide, and 1/4 or so thick.

Let the dough sit while you make the filling:
Mix the mozzarella, the olive oil, the Parmesan, and the spices together in a bowl. Chop up the olives really small and add them too.

Spread the filling out evenly over the dough, leaving a little room on the long edges. Now, with a little cup of water at hand, wet your finger and moisten the long edges of the dough. You should be able to fold the dough over the filling and pinch it shut on the other side.

You have some options now: you can make it a spiral, or a doughnut, or you can come up with something even cooler. I usually make a spiral because I get carried away and have too much for anything else.

Pinch the ends shut (if you have any left), put it on a baking sheet (or a wooden paddle, like I use), cover, and let it rise for 1-2 hours.

Preheat your oven to 350 and bake for around an hour. It may take more or less time depending on how thick a spiral you make (doughnut shapes take less time). I use a pizza stone, but cornmeal on the baking sheet should work too.

Chances are, there are places where the dough's a little thin and you'll get a little leak. Some cheese will leak out a little and burn a little.

I usually serve it with tomato sauce (if you make a ring, you can put it in a bowl in the middle)