"Quick" Herb and Olive Oil Dinner Bread

Firstly, I'm baking for the first time in my brand new kitchen - so, Welcome! May there be many delicious things made here.

You'll see it is quite a mess. This is one of my great faults. I am not particularly bothered by messes/clutter/dishes in the sink, etc. We've only been here 11 days so it's even more chaotic than normal.

While I'm making admissions of my great faults, I'll let you in on another - I do not care what you eat. I don't care if you are on a juice diet, or a gluten-free diet, or a paleo diet, think dairy is a mortal sin, or that wheat is going to kill us, or if you eat every other meal from Wendys. I certainly do not care whether you buy organic, eat organic, or food process-up your organic fruit with your organic kale and wheatgrass and post your slime green glass-full all over Instagram. I also don't care if you eat ice cream for dinner. Shit happens.

Am I being harsh? Maybe. But here's my bottom line: I only cook what I like. And that's what you'll find here.  It just so happens that I like Kale. But I also like butter, eggs, regular-old fashioned-white sugar, chocolate cake, cream, bacon, and once in a while one of those bowls you get at KFC.

Anyway

Back to the bread - this is the perfect dinner bread because it only requires a 25-30 minute rise. So when I get home from work, it's actually feasible to bake it by dinner. Weird. It will look super-cute on your table and make it seem like you put in a lot more effort than you did.

Ingredients
1 c. warm water
1 TBS quick-rise yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
3 c. flour (I used 2 c. white and 1 c. whole wheat) but next time I might just go all white flour because I think the wheat flavor masks some of the delicious herb flavors
3/4 tsp salt (more or less)
2 TBS olive oil
2 TBS dried herbs or more if you are using fresh - I tossed in Rosemary, Thyme, Chives, and some type of parsley that is growing in the garden
Non-stick spray

 1. Proof your yeast. Place 1 TBS yeast in measuring cup with 1/2 tsp sugar. Run your hot water until just before it feels too hot (or a little before that if your fingers have little to no sensitivity to hot anymore!). Fill up to 1 c. line with water and leave for 5 minutes covered with a dishtowel in a warm-ish place. You know it's done when the top is covered with sheet of yeasty-foam.

PS. I am not a master at proofing  yeast. Also yeast doesn't last forever in the stupid packets. I had to try 3 times before I actually got a batch to work. The water can't be too hot or too cold yatta-yatta, blah-blah.

2. Add flour, salt, herbs to bowl. Combine and add in olive oil slowly. Next slowly add in proofed yeast. Mix only until combined. Dough should be moist but not overly sticky. If too dry, add warm water a TBS at a time.

PPS. This recipe was adapted from an adaption of an adaption of an adaption. I've tried to locate the source recipe but have been unsuccessful. As far as I can tell, each time the instructions get a little further away from themselves. This method seemed to work fine for me however!

 

 3. In reality, I should have let it mix for 20-30 second more. But I was following the shady instructions, so let this be a lesson to you! Let proof 25-30 minutes, covered, in a warm place. I have a nice window right in the sun - but if you don't - try the stove top with the oven preheating to 400˚F or in the microwave. Place a cup of water in the microwave and heat 2 minutes. Quickly! open the door and pop the bowl in.

4. Once doubled in size, remove from bowl and knead 3-4 times on the counter. Shape into a round, oval, or elongated loaf and place on greased baking sheet. Let rest 5 minutes. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

5. Bake @ 400˚F for 30 - 33 minutes. It should sound hollow when you knock on it. Let rest 15-20 minutes after removing it from the oven. I am bad at this, but I am working on improving my self control in the matter.

6. Enjoy slathered in butter, as toast, grilled cheese, or whatever else you can think of!