Olive Bread

Life doesn't get much better than when you have rich olive bread to go along with a phenomenal bottle of red wine, good friends and a little herb butter or chèvre.  This is an old recipe from Sunset Magazine, circa 1985.  Nowadays you can get amazing olives to substitute for the regular old canned black olives and green olives with pimento that I first used.  I highly recommend experimenting with a variety.  Today I made it with three different olives: Kalamatas, oil-cured black olives, and green olives stuffed with citrus peel.  Next time I plan on making it with herbed oil-cured black olives and garlic-stuffed green olives.  Today we tried it with chèvre coated with tarragon and pink peppercorns, goat cheese and sheep's feta blended with herbed sun-dried tomatoes, and butter with smoked paprika and lemon zest.  We couldn't come to consensus on which topping was the best, but everyone agreed it was delicious on its own.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 teaspoons dried yeast (1 package)
• 3/4 warm water (should feel warm when you put your finger in it)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 large eggs
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups pitted olives (mixture of black and green - green can be stuffed with almost anything, my most recent favorite is citrus peel)
• 1 egg yolk

Preparation

In a small bowl, combine yeast and warm water; let stand 5 minutes. In a large mixer bowl blend the sugar with the butter until creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.  Stir in yeast mixture.

To blend with mixer and knead by hand:  add 2 1/2 cups flour and beat at medium speed for 10 minutes.  Stir in 1 1/2 cups more flour until moistened.  Scrape dough out a lightly floured board and knead, adding flour to prevent sticking until dough is smooth, about 7 minutes.  Plop dough in a lightly greased bowl and turn dough over so that the top is greased.

To knead with a hook:  add 4 1/2 cups flour to yeast mixture.  Beat at medium speed until dough pulls cleanly from side of bowl, about 10 minutes; adding the additional 1/2 cup flour a little at a time, if needed.  Remove dough hook and scrape dough down into bowl.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let stand in a warm place until dough doubles in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Drain olives well if needed, then pat dry.

Turn dough out on a lightly floured board and knead to expel air; add flour to prevent sticking if needed.  Pat dough into a 14 to 16 inch square.  Scatter olives evenly over the dough and press in lightly.  Roll up dough to enclose olives and place seam side down on a greased 12x15" baking sheet.  Tuck open ends of dough under to make a smooth surface.  Pat loaf to flatten and shape it into an oval, about 1 3/4" thick.  Cover with plastic wrap or clean kitchen towel and let stand in a warm place to rise, about 30 minutes.

Uncover loaf and brush with egg yolk.  Bake in a 325 degree oven until richly browned, about 45 minutes.  Transfer to a rack to cool for at least 10 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 1 loaf, about 3 pounds.

Potential herb butters to use - let unsalted butter sit at room temperature until soft.  Add 1 Tablespoon finely chopped herbs and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt for every 1/2 cup butter.  You can use a single herb such as rosemary or a blend such as the classic sage, rosemary and thyme (yes, just like in the song).  I like basil and rosemary by themselves, but adding things like lemon zest and/or smoked paprika add some additional excitement that is hard to pass up.