Piece of advice #1, do NOT make this on a rainy day! I had to make bread for an office luncheon and didn't have much choice in when I made it, but the weather definitely made a difference. It has been rainy and gloomy for the past several days--spring, where are you?? I did not really think about this while making the bread (I didn't think about it until my roommate brought it to my attention), but the humidity in the air caused the bread not to rise as much. I should have added a bit more flour or less water. I am blaming the weather for my bread flop, because a) this recipe was perfect the last time I made it and I didn't do anything differently, and b) the weather can't defend itself and place the blame back on me. Despite its leaden nature, the bread wasn't bad. It had great flavor; it just didn't rise as much as it was supposed to. It was chewy like ciabatta.
This is an effortless bread recipe and is perfect for entertaining, because it requires very little hands-on time and will keep for a few days. As long as you know you are having people over in advance, you can make this and pop it in the oven to reheat when they arrive.
I love homemade bread, but it (read: yeast) is as moody and finicky as your typical awkward middle schooler. I have had good experiences with making my own bread and not-so-good experiences, and I blame the yeast (or the way it reacts with the weather), because I swear, I don't do anything differently from one time to another. I have not gotten disheartened and continue to try to make bread with about a 50% success rate.
The first time I made this bread, I left it plain, but since my herb garden is alive, well, and multiplying before my eyes, I decided to add some rosemary this time. Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs to use. Love. It. You will probably get sick of seeing it in my future recipes. As the summer nears (if it ever does) and local produce starts filling my refrigerator, I will begin to use all of my herbs, most notably rosemary.
Rosemary bread reminds me of the time I found a missing cat fourth year. There was a graduate student living in my same apartment complex, and she had a cat. Well, he went missing one day, and she posted flyers on every light pole within a three-block radius. "MISSING CAT. Answers to Oliver. Call 555-555-5555" or something along those lines. There was also a blurry picture of him in the middle of the sheet.
Well, I went to do laundry a couple weeks after I noticed the flyers pasted to every pole in sight, and when I came out of the shed (yes, the washer and dryer was in a sketchy tool shed of sorts), I was staring down Oliver. Fortunately, I recognized him from seeing him earlier in the year...the blurry picture did not do him justice. I could sense the desperation in the flyers, so I figured I'd try to lure Oliver into my apartment and then call his lonely owner. After some coaxing and a little force, Oliver was safely inside my apartment, and I ran to the apartment of his owner. She came down, and there was a tearful reunion--owner and Oliver reunited at last. She offered to pay me, but I told her that was silly. A couple of days later, I came home to a loaf of homemade rosemary bread from Oliver's owner. That was when I realized how much I liked rosemary; I had always written it off until that point, but no longer.
I advise you to make this bread, and if it isn't perfect the first time, 1) blame the weather, and 2) try again.
4 cups bread flour
1/4 t yeast
1 t salt
1 T rosemary
1 1/2 cups warm water
Mix all ingredients in a bowl just until it comes together. It will be very shaggy, but that's okay. Wrap it with plastic wrap and let it set on the counter for 12 - 20 hours. Leave it alone; let the yeast do its magic.
Uncover the hunk-o-dough, and dump it onto a floured surface. Form it into a ball-o-dough with well-floured hands or spatula. Dust a linen cloth with flour and loosely wrap the dough in there to rest for two more hours. When an hour and a half has passed, preheat the oven to 450 and place dutch oven (with top) in the oven at this point.
After two hours, dump the dough into the pot. It will be a very organic shaped loaf, and that's fine. It's supposed to be rustic! Bake for 30 minutes covered, and then bake for about 15 more minutes until the crust browns and crisps.
Eat immediately with lots of butter! Or you can store it on the counter (unwrapped because the crust will keep it fresh or in a brown bag) uncut for a couple days. To reheat, wrap it in foil and bake at 375 for 7 minutes. If you store this in a container or a plastic bag, the crust will soften. It's so easy...as long as the weather cooperates. And of course, the sun is out (a little) today...shall I try again already?
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