Diaries of a Desperate Novice Bread Baker, pt. 3

"Take not from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned." - Thomas Jefferson

So, to get back to the bread peel (and the drawing board), I recently tried a recipe for Rosemary bread, like the one served in the Macaroni Grill restaurants. It's delicious, and goes perfectly with olive oil and black pepper for dipping.

Recipe:
makes: 2 loaves

• 1 cup warm water (110-120 degrees F)
• 1 tbsp. yeast
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. rosemary
• 1/2 stick of butter

Mix water, sugar and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Stir until it dissolves, let sit 5 minutes or until foamy.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt and half of rosemary. Stir flour mixture with a wire mix.

After yeast mixture becomes foamy, add the oil. Add 1 cup of flour to yeast mixture and stir until mixed. Keep adding flour about 1/2 cup at a time until it becomes dough. Knead for 10 minutes, adding flour if necessary. Set dough in an oiled bowl, brush dough with oil, cover bowl with a cloth and let dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Punch down dough and let sit for 5 minutes. Then, split dough into two pieces, form into ovals and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, place baking stone in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F. Melt half a stick of butter in a dish. After dough rises, brush melted butter on top of each oval. Carefully slide parchment paper with loaves on to baking stone and close oven. Bake for ten minutes, then open the oven and brush tops of loaves with butter and sprinkle with remaining rosemary. Bake for another 5-10 minutes, until loaves are light brown.

Enjoy!