Olive Oil Bread

This recipe is from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook and tastes a LOT like the foccasia bread at Macaroni Grill. It's delicious dipped in a little olive oil, but just as good plain. The salt content is perfect...I once tried to brush the top with olive oil and dust with kosher salt, like Macaroni Grill does, but it was way too salty. Then when I made it most recently, I accidentally left out the salt and it was very, very bland. So don't forget to add that in the middle of the process!

The recipe calls for making it with a Kitchen Aide mixer, but I'm sure you could make this if you didn't have one, too. Just adjust the instructions, if needed. Also, if you've never made a Martha Stewart recipe before, pay attention to the details! If she says, "mix for 3 minutes" or "let rise 20 minutes" - just do it. You'll be surprised how her over-controlling instructions change the result of the end product.

Olive Oil Bread

2 cups water, room temperature

1 1/2 pounds (about 4 cups) bread flour (actually buying bread flour makes a huge difference!)

1 ounce fresh yeast

3/4 cups extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon course salt

cornmeal for dusting, if desired

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the water, flour, yeast and olive oil; stir with a wooden spoon until all ingredients are incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. (It's so dry here in Phoenix, that I usually turn my oven on to about 200 degrees, then I turn the oven OFF, place a cup of warm/hot water in the oven with the dough, and let it rise that way...it creates some moisture and warmth and it rises nicely. FYI: in this picture I forgot to put the dough in the mixer bowl, but it easily transferred.)

Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the salt and mix at low speed to combine. Raise the speed to medium and mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl but is still sticky, about 3 minutes.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Fold the bottom third up, the top third down and the right and left sides over, tapping off the excess flour after each fold and pressing down the seal. Flip the dough on the work surface, with the seam side down, and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rest for 15 minutes.

Dust a baking stone with cornmeal (you could use a cookie sheet) and set aside. Transfer the dough to a clean work surface (if the dough is overly sticky, lightly flour the surface). Shape the dough into a tight round, rolling it in a circular motion with your hands. Transfer the dough to the stone (or cookie sheet) and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let the dough rest until slightly puffed, about 30 minutes.

* I usually make this into 2 loaves and freeze one after baking OR I use a bench scraper to divide the dough out and make rolls. If you make one loaf, it's BIG...plenty for company.

With a sharp knife, make four slashes on top of the loaf to make a square, so the dough can expand evenly in the oven. Bake at 450 degrees for 45-50 minutes (or 20 minutes for 16 rolls). Allow bread to cool slightly before serving.