Olive Rosemary Sourdough

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Hi Melissa

I have ordered your book on Amazon. It’s being shipped, and let me tell you, I can’t wait to browse through it. This bread looks delicious and I am sure there are many more like it in the book.But, because it’s you and Eric that wrote it, it will be a fabulous book! Once I received it, I will praise you some more. Thanks for all your efforts in helping bread bakers like me. :baguette_bread:

Thank you :green_heart::ear_of_rice::bread: We put a bunch of extra photos from all the test bakes here if you want to browse ahead. Also photos and a video of recipes people have made already made. (Hotdog bun shaping especially helpful!)

https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3ODY0NzQ1NjEzOTcxNjAx?igshid=1geanaq40wvxa&story_media_id=2354479915197760133_190293076

I made sourdough bread many times, but this one was the best - finally got a good rise, and the flavor was fantastic.

I have received my copy of your book, and it is as good as anticipated. I have already baked the focaccia and everybody loved it. Needless to say it didn’t last very long. There are a lot more I want to try. Again, congratulations on a really well written book. :star2::star2::star2::star2::star2:

Thank you! I’m so glad you’re enjoying book.

I just made this recipe. This was my first attempt making sourdough. I was a little confused by the stretch and fold section. I wasn’t clear if I stretch and fold every half hour for 2-3 times, or until the dough doubles in size and surface is bubbly. (a note stating it could take 6-10 hours added to my confusion, I didn’t know what bulk fermentation meant-looking back, I could have looked it up). After 5 hours and pulling and stretching and resting 30 minutes, mine never bubbled so I gave up and continued on with the rest of the recipe. I appreciated having a temperature to gage doneness. This bread is delicious, great texture!! I will certainly make it again.

The gluten development (all that stretching and folding) usually lasts for about 2-3 hours of the first rise or bulk fermentation. I suspect that you had good bubbling and fermentation but it was masked by your additional rounds of stretching and folding (the manipulation of the dough would pop the bigger bubbles and smooth out the dough surface). I am sure you had fantastic gluten development from all the extra stretching and folding, and no harm was done except for extra effort being expended. Here’s a blog post we did on gluten development that you may find helpful.

This bread is wonderful. As suggested, it is a wonderful addition to a cheese plate. It also makes a great sandwich bread for egg and cheese. I will make this one again.

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Wow that all looks very delicious!

@shamby I’m drooling! That looks SO good! :yum:

Leah

What a lovely recipe. My friend Sharon advised adding in olive oil so the only change I incorporated was adding in one tablespoon of olive oil (13g) and then I reduced the water by 13g. Had a little accident while baking the bread and I squashed the loaf but other then that it’s excellent. Toasted and topped with a hard cheese is delicious. Thank you @Fermentada

Beautiful! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. I’m curious what your friend’s reason is for adding the oil. Tenderness of crumb I imagine?

Thank you @Fermentada

My friend and I often exchange recipes and ideas. She did a lovely bake and when I saw it immediately asked her for the recipe which happened to be yours albeit with olive oil. So I tried it as written by her. It’s the only version I’ve done so far so I can’t comment either way only that it is delicious. If I was to venture a guess I’d say it might have sounded like a good addition to an olive bread and we often make sandwich breads.

I think the kamut was a very nice touch. It really compliments the flavours and brings out the best in a herb bread. It’s flavoursome but not overpowering allowing the additions to shine through. Good idea!

It toasts up very well indeed and I think the olive oil does help in that aspect too.

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Hi Melissa,

I made this loaf last night and I found it came out a little flat. The dough seemed to puff up really well with during the bulk and final proof, but then I got very little spring during the bake. I was wondering if you could help me diagnose what I might have done wrong!

I am in the UK so it could be something to do with flour absorbency - the dough was quite wet and sticky, especially as I was shaping it for the final proof. However, I have made your 40% khorasan loaf many times before, which is also usually just as wet, and the oven spring is usually quite explosive!

I’ve included two pictures just in case that helps. (This is the loaf cut straight down the middle.) The flavour is excellent by the way - no problems there!!

Any ideas much appreciated - thanks!

Just a comment that you can make this with 100% whole wheat, without a heavy, overly tough result, by pushing the hydration up a bit, and using a cold fermentation for final proofing. The cold proofing (in addition to altering the flavor a bit) helps to keep the shape of the higher hydration dough, without as much the flattening than high hydration doughs are prone to. Result is a thin, crispy crust, with tender crumb, all in a 100% whole grain sourdough.

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I’m so sorry I missed this question. I hope you resolved the mystery. My take is that olives weigh down this dough, so it will be somewhat different from a a 40% khorasan dough without olives, but I suspect the dough also fermented a bit too much. If you got a good rise, perhaps it was actually a slightly over-fermented rise? I should have made a recipe “tip” in the book to that effect: that dough with additions may be ready for the pre-shape when it’s not quite as expanded because all those heavy nuts and berries weigh down the dough.

My first attempt at this recipe came out quite nicely – I doubled the recipe to make two loaves (no pics of the “crumb” because I was giving them away). I substituted Spelt for the Kamut flour (I had Spelt on hand and I read they were fairly similar). I also used 50% AP and 50% BF. Thanks for this recipe!

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Wow, jayhawkjimg, both of those loaves look really, really good! It’s coming up on lunch time and I had to see this now?!? I want to eat my screen. :smiley:

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I hope I don’t step on anyone’s toes with this …

Back when this recipe was initially introduced here, I made it, then I tweaked it. And I increased the flour to make 2 loaves, or a loaf and a focaccia. It remains one of our favorite naturally leavened breads. It is a good recipe, beginner or not. My tweaks might move it a bit from the ‘beginner’ standing. Jump to the end to see my comment about using sun dried tomatoes.

I think it easy for the flavor of rosemary to overwhelm the wonderful flavors of the wheat, olives, and sourdough ferment. In making the tweaks, my goal was to use the rosemary to compliment, not allowing it to dominate any of those other flavors. I also use the smaller Kalamata olives, halved lengthwise. If I have to use the larger olives, I quarter them, cutting lengthwise, then across, to avoid a big chunk of olive texture-bombing the chewy crumb. I mix the rosemary in with the flour when making the dough, but add the olives during “manly” stretch and folds to evenly distribute them without squishing or destroying them. After doing the final shaping, I push any exposed olive into the dough and pinch it closed to prevent surface olives on the bread during the bake.

I WASH THE OLIVES!!! Actually, I rinse them to remove as much of the preserving brine and vinegar as possible, then drain well before incorporating in the recipe. This makes a big difference in flavor. Vinegar is not necessarily an unwanted flavor in bread, but I am going to pick up a preferred “sour” with the preferment.

I make a 50% hydrated preferment using a combination of 3 flours; 50% bread flour, 25% whole wheat flour, and 25% whole rye flour. The whole wheat sourdough starter (70% hydration) is added at 45% of the weight of the combined flours. After getting ‘proof of life’, I toss the preferment into the fridge for a day or two. When using the preferment, I allow it come back to room temperature for several hours, or overnight, biasing toward the more sour hetrofermentative AAB. For the final dough, I just mix the preferment with bread flour, water, and a pinch of salt. Oh, and fresh rosemary. The almost 700 g (total) of flours I use to make 2 loaves will have only 5 g of rosemary in it. After ‘proof of life’, the dough goes into the fridge.

With a hydration tweak (or not), the recipe also makes a great focaccia. I do not push down any exposed olives like when making bread. I add more olives, whole olives, after the second fermentation, pushing them into the dough but leaving them exposed, just before baking. Sprinkle with course salt (I use Maldon), and drizzle with a good EVOO from Liguria. Sometimes I add lots of sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained.

Btw, the same recipe makes excellent sun dried tomato bread. Instead of olives, substitute with 70 g sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained and chopped. Add 30 g (2 Tbsp) of the tomato’s olive oil to the dough. Like with olives, I add the tomatoes during the stretch and folds so they are evenly distributed. This, too makes a good focaccia.

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