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Bread is my mistress

a double batch after rising for an hour

OK what's the male version of mistress? Well that's what good home made bread is to me :) Sorry John... I'm cheating on you with home made bread... and I'm not even guilty about it!

Let me digress for a minute... I've been taking an intro to wheel throwing pottery class this summer (wicked fun). I've never done pottery before (unless you count painting random already made pottery when I was a kid). Let me tell you, throwing pottery is seriously fun!!! I'm still finishing glazing some pots and bowls but once I'm all done I will have made 19 of them! Woo Woo! Here's an example of my expert *cough cough* work :)



We had a big potluck dinner for our final class the other night, can you guess what I volunteered to bring?

I knew one loaf wouldn't be enough, so I made a double batch of the following recipe. This recipe is like bread for beginners. You don't have to proof the yeast or anything... just toss all the dry ingredients (including the yeast) into a bowl, mix, add the warm water and oil, kneed, let it rise for an hour... bake for 30 minutes... and you are DONE AND DONE!!! See isn't the easy? Don't' you want to go run home and make some up right now??


Sorry I don't have any inside shots, but trust me, this is some seriously tender bread with a wonderful crust, and the little bit of sea salt on top... MMMMM! MMMMMM!!!! Man I wish I had some right now... I think I need to go bake some... right now :D

The second loaf was a bit bigger than the first one... whoops! Haha, they both tasted the same though. My classmates were wicked impressed I made the bread, and also very excited that I took off work so I could make the bread fresh right before class started. Hot bread out of the oven?? Yes please! My friend Beth who is also taking the class made some of my hummus to go along with the bread. Delicious!

So don't be afraid, go try this! And you can really add any seasoning in that you have, this batch I used thyme and some red pepper flakes for a little kick!

Thyme/Rosemary Bread
I have no clue where I got this recipe... but I LOVE IT!
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons dried thyme or rosemary
2 1/2 cups bread flour (i used king arthur bread flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one package)
1 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
dash of large grain sea salt to top the loaf (optional)

Add dry ingredients (salt through yeast) to a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and combine. (You can do this all by hand too if you don't have a mixer, it will just take a little longer)

Warm water to 100-130 degrees. (30 seconds in the microwave works perfectly)

Create a well in the dry ingredients and add oil and warm water.

Mix dough until it cleans the sides of the bowl. Allow dough to knead on the hook in the bowl for 1-2 minutes. (If using your hands just kneed until it comes away from the counter top and is no longer sticking to your hands- it should feel a little elastic)

Coat a clean bowl with olive oil. Add dough to bowl, turn to coat, and allow to rise in covered bowl for 1 hour.

Shape dough into square or round loaf (your choice). Brush top of dough with oil and top with sea salt or any other seasonings you like.

Heat oven to 375 and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Serve with olive oil seasoned with herbs or cracked black pepper, or hummus, or ANYTHING really

yum yum yum yum yum!!!!


AND don't forget to sign up for the jam exchange if you haven't already :)

30 chews:

Astra Libris said...

Oh my goodness, Steph, I am SO excited about this recipe!!! Baking bread is my favorite thing ever... and rosemary is our favorite herb ever... and your bread looks amazing!!! Can't wait to fix it! Thank you for the great recipe!

I am also seriously impressed with your pottery... I can't believe this is your first try - you're a pro already! Your pieces are so beautiful! !

Sunshine said...

Those bowls are awesome! And I can't wait to try the bread. P.S. I made my two jams yesterday, and they came out great!

great bowls you are so talented oh and homemade bread is divine I really need to try it

Unknown said...

Those bowls are beautiful! Also...as soon as I saw the first picture I thought "is that the thyme/rosemary bread??" I made it a while back, and have recently been thinking of making it again (this time grinding up the rosemary a bit to make it less pointy). Sooooo good. I also considered sprinkling some sea salt on it.

Emma said...

The bowls, and the bread, are beautiful! Yummmm.

I do believe that the male version of mistress is 'master'. :)

Anne said...

That bread sounds amazing! I love the thyme/rosemary herb combo. Your homemade bowls are so beautiful, too! Great job :D

Sarah Glova said...

That bread is BEAUTIFUL; makes me hungry! I read the recipe a couple times and it makes me feel like I could handle it. I think... Want to laugh at me? Picture me reading this recipe and then googling what a "dough hook" is :)

Your bowl looks amazing!! I've always wanted to take a pottery class; how cool!!!

OMG, Steph, that looks heavenly! Rosemary and sea salt too? Love it! What a great recipe and quick too. I'm printing this one out!

Also, I'm hugely impressed with your pottery! I never could get the hang of wheel work ... but you sure have. They're gorgeous. :)

The pottery class sounds like a great diversion. Your bowls look amazing. And so does the bread. The herby breads are some of the best. They go well with butter or even just an apricot jam. The flavors are nice together.

stephchows said...

Thanks everyone for the pottery comments! It's such a fun thing to try! If you have a place near by totally give it a go!

Astra Libris- Thanks so much! I know you will love this recipe and it's SOO easy!!

Sunshine- awesome to hear!!! what kind did you end up making??

Val- I know isn't it the best! LOL maybe we should make some to bring to frisbee hehe

Emma- Hmmm master doesn't sound as fun as mistress :D

Sarah- LOL! Well you can always just use your hands :)

Diva on a diet- you are going to love love love this bread!

Duo Dishes- hmmm apricot jam... I wouldn't have thought of that one. I need to try it now! thanks for the suggestion!

Natalie said...

Lovely Bread! But those bowls are beautiful!!! I have spent good money on bowls that look just like that!!

good job (on the bowl, and bread!)

beautiful bowls girlie :)
of course the bread looks fantastic!

beautiful bowls girlie :)
of course the bread looks fantastic!

Reeni said...

Your bowls are gorgeous! And so is your bread - love the rosemary and thyme!

Hannah said...

I wish I had the time to make some bread, right now! This sounds amazing.

How can bread be your mistress and my mistress too? Somebody's cheating on somebody...lol

Lovely looking bread Steph. Lovely.

There is nothing better than the smell of fresh bread in the oven. It really lights up the house! Your loaf of bread looks perfect!

stephchows said...

Natalie- I know I LOVE bowls, this class was awesome!

PB swirl, Reeni- thanks!!

Hannah- you are so crazy busy right now! you need a vacation for sure

Mags- OMG still laughing at your comment hahahaha that bread is a hussy!

Krissy- I couldn't agree with you more!

Ann said...

This looks delicious! I love fresh Italian bread - just had a ton of it today at lunch with olive oil and parmmmmmm:) I figured out the IE issue! The security under tools had to be switched from medium-high to medium and no I have no problems. (I like some of IE's options better than firefox since it upgraded)

Steph said...

I love bread too! I wish I made it a little more often though because its way yummier. I think it's so cool that you're taking a pottery class. I always wanted to try something artsy, but I'm not so creative..haha.

Jeanne said...

My bff just got back from Seattle and she brought me some Theo chocolate. What kind? Bread & Chocolate!, because of my bread addiction. I haven't tried it yet (saving it for a special occassion) but you'd probably love it too!

stephchows said...

Ann- Glad you got it figured out! I passed your fix onto my mom :)

Steph- I can't help myself if there is fresh bread in the room :) You should totally try out something crafty! I bet you'll surprise yourself!

Jeanne- wait chocolate... and ... bread!?!? Count me in!! haha

Natalie said...

wow just made this tonight and it was INCREDIBLE!!!!!! i won't have it posted on the blog for awhile (too huge of a backlog of posts right now haha) but we loved this so much. thanks for the AWESOME recipe!

Unknown said...

OMG. That looks AMAZING. Thank you! I will def. make it sometime soon. I think bread making is basically my favorite thing to do in the kitchen.

Allison said...

I love how simple this bread recipe is! I love baking it, but often get bogged down by the more complicated recipes. Thanks for sharing!

Allison said...

I love how simple this bread recipe is! I love baking it, but often get bogged down by the more complicated recipes. Thanks for sharing!

stephchows said...

Ann- Glad you got it figured out! I passed your fix onto my mom :)

Steph- I can't help myself if there is fresh bread in the room :) You should totally try out something crafty! I bet you'll surprise yourself!

Jeanne- wait chocolate... and ... bread!?!? Count me in!! haha

Ann said...

This looks delicious! I love fresh Italian bread - just had a ton of it today at lunch with olive oil and parmmmmmm:) I figured out the IE issue! The security under tools had to be switched from medium-high to medium and no I have no problems. (I like some of IE's options better than firefox since it upgraded)

Mags said...

How can bread be your mistress and my mistress too? Somebody's cheating on somebody...lol

Lovely looking bread Steph. Lovely.

Reeni♥ said...

Your bowls are gorgeous! And so is your bread - love the rosemary and thyme!

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