European Breads
Buy This Poster At AllPosters.com

La Belle Cuisine - More Bread Recipes

Fine Cuisine with Art Infusion

"To cook is to create. And to create well...is an act of integrity, and faith,"

French Country Bread Series:  Olive Bread

"The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight..."
- M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating

Recipe of the Day Categories:

   Recipe Home

   Appetizers

   Beef

   Beverage

   Bread

   Breakfast

   Cake

   Chocolate

   Cookies

   Fish

   Fruit

   Main Dish

   Pasta

   Pies

   Pork

   Poultry

   Salad

   Seafood

   Side Dish

   Soup

   Vegetable

   Surprise!

 
Olive
Theo Schildkamp
Buy This Art Print At AllPosters.com

Your patronage of our affiliate partners supports this web site.  We thank you!

 
Boulangerie De Peypind
Archambault, Gilles
Buy this Art Print at AllPosters.com

We were delighted to discover the following article in our bread recipe archives and pleased to be able to share it with you.  This is the fourth in a series of six excellent recipes inspired by the boulangers of provincial France:

French Country Breads
by Jeffrey Alford, Bon Appetit April 1992

 "For a lover of bread, looking for whole-grain loaves in the French countryside is like going on a pilgrimage.  I recently made such as journey, exploring village markets, driving down country lanes and climbing steep cobbled streets in search
of traditional boulangeries.  I found that the search was almost as great a pleasure
as the breads themselves.
Traditional boulangers have a great deal of pride in the bread they produce.  They know it's good.  When I asked about a recipe, they were always generous with information - about the oven, the quality of the flour, the baker's attention and care.  These, they all agreed, are the essential ingredients.
Of course, it also helps if you have good recipes.  And here are six terrific ones that I created from the knowledge I gained from my fellow bakers across the Atlantic..."

Olive Bread

"There are as many variations of this soft-textured loaf, typical of Provence,
as there are bakers who sell it.  My favorite combines both green and black olives."

2 1/2 cups warm (105 to 115 degrees F) water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups black and/or green brine-cured olives (Niçoise, Lyons or Kalamata), pitted, chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
3 cups (about) whole wheat flour
Additional olive oil

Place warm water in a large bowl.  Sprinkle yeast over and stir to dissolve.  Gradually add 3 cups unbleached flour. Stir 100 times. Cover mixture with plastic.  Let stand in warm draft-free area until foamy, about 30 minutes.
Mix olives, 2 tablespoons oil and salt into yeast mixture. Stir in buckwheat flour. Gradually mix in enough whole wheat flour to form soft dough. Knead dough on floured surface until smooth and elastic, adding more whole wheat flour if dough is sticky, about 8 minutes.
Oil a large bowl. Add dough and turn to coat. Cover with plastic. Let rise in warm draft-free area until doubled and dough does not spring back when 2 fingers are pressed into side, 2 hours. Punch dough down. Grease large cookie sheet. Divide dough in half. On lightly floured surface roll out 1 dough piece to 3/4-inch-thick oval.  Beginning at one short side, roll up jelly roll style. Continue rolling dough between floured surface and palms, pressing gently while rolling, until a 12-inch-long loaf forms. Transfer to prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with second dough piece. Cover with towel and let rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Bake until golden brown and loaves sound hollow when tapped on bottom, about 1 hour. Transfer to rack and cool completely.  Makes 2 loaves.
 

French Country Bread Series:
Hazelnut Bread
Olive Bread
Raisin and Millet Rolls
Rye and Walnut Rolls
Sunflower Seed Bread

Index - Bread Recipe Archives
Recipe Archives Index