Little Dish #5 - Olive & Rosemary Country Round

Here is the awesome recipe for the Olive & Rosemary bread that I made yesterday! The recipe came in my Cuisinart booklet and I'll tell you how I tweaked it a little. It is a rustic bread, crusty on the outside but so soft on the inside. Not to mention it looks beautiful and looks like you slaved over it. The only work took about 15-20 minutes. Most of the time it takes is the rising and the baking part. So just do it on a day when you are lounging around or cooking all day in prep for a party/get together anyway. :) Hope you enjoy it. Comment on my post if you get a chance to make it!

Rustic Olive & Rosemary Country Round

Ingredients:
10 oz unbleached bread flour
5 oz whole wheat flour (I didn't have this so I used another 5 oz. of bread flour and it tasted perfect to me!)
1 oz rye flour (I omitted this too)
2 tsp fine sea salt (I used fleur de sel -"Fleur de sel, literally "flower of salt," has been gathered on the island of Ré, off France's Atlantic coast, since the seventh century. Beloved by cooks, these fine, light crystals have a delicate flavor and high concentration of minerals, making them the perfect finishing salt.")
1 tsp instant yeast (I use Quick Rise Yeast by Red Star)
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (for this I took 1 sprig of rosemary and blended it with about 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, then strained it. I let it sit for about 2 days to really infuse that rosemary flavor - you don't have to do this, but I used it for other things like my pancetta & potatoes)
1-1/4 cups water (10 oz)
1/2 cup pitted and coarsely chopped imported black olives (these can be found in the deli section of the grocery store or by the olives)
1 Tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary
Cornmeal for the peel or baking sheet
Flour for dusting

Directions: 
Insert the dough blade into your Cuisinart. (If you don't have one you'll need to mix everything in a bowl and then knead by hand until dough is smooth.) Combine the flour, salt, yeast and olive oil in the work bowl. Test the temperature of the flour mixture using an instant read thermometer. Adjust the water temperature so that the individual temperature of the flour and water when combined equal 145 deg. This is the base temperature. With the machine running on dough speed, add the water through the small feed tube and process for 45 seconds. Transfer the dough to a large ungreased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours at room temperature.
Move the uppermost rack in the oven so that it is about 8 inches from the top. Place a small cast iron skillet on the floor of the oven or lower rack of the oven. Preheat to 475 degrees when ready to bake.
Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Flatten into a 12-inch square using the palms of your hands (this is where I used a rolling pin so I could get out any air bubbles!). Sprinkle with the chopped olives and chopped rosemary. Fold the dough over onto itself and knead for 3-4 minutes to thoroughly incorporate the olives and rosemary.
Form into a round loaf. Oil a bowl lightly with olive oil and place the dough into it. Dust lightly with flour and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise at least 1 hour at room temperature. It will be visibly risen and spring back when gently pressed with a finger.
Just before baking, invert onto a baking stone or the back of a baking sheet that has been dusted with cornmeal. Sprinkle the top with additional flour. Using a serrated knife, score the dough in a star pattern - starting from the center, make a short 3-inch slash. Rotate the bread and continue slashing until a star pattern is formed on the top of the dough.
Put the loaf into the oven and pour 1 cup of warm water into the cast iron skillet in the oven. (This causes steam in the oven and will help with "oven spring" and a nice crust on the bread!) Reduce heat to 450 degrees. Bake the bread for 30 minutes, and then reduce the temperature to 425 and bake an additional 15 minutes. The crust will be well browned and the loaf will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. The internal temperature will be 205-210 degrees when tested with an instant read thermometer. Remove the bread from the oven and place on a rack to cool.
I cut into mine after only about 5 minutes of resting so I could enjoy warm fresh bread - there is nothing finer I don't think. ;) Enjoy by itself or dip into an herb olive oil dipping sauce of your choice!