Rosemary Bread
One of the nice things about working at home is that you're able to do a bit of cooking that, due to the attention it requires, is usually reserved for the weekends. Not that you can stand over the stove and cook all day, but the schedule lends itself very nicely to home baked bread, because you can throw it together, monitor your rises, and pull it out of the oven at the perfect time.
The weather here today is gray and wintry, with little bursts of snow, and lends itself to dreams of comfort food. And when I was coming back into the house after switching cars so that the DH could go to his leg-shrinker, I noticed that I had a bumper crop of both rosemary and sage in the herb garden.
I'm a ginormous fan of both these herbs, and I got to thinking about how a nice plate of spaghetti would be a good cozy warm-up for dinner tonight--and that rosemary could be used to make an accompaniment that would celebrate the success of the home-grown herb.
I have a recipe for rosemary bread that claims to be a copycat of the bread served at Macaroni Grill. We don't have a Macaroni Grill anywhere around here, that I'm aware of, so I can't say if that's true, but I am a fan of the La Brea Olive Oil Rosemary bread that you can get at the market.
But why buy it when you can make it?
I tweaked things just a tad, of course, but here is the recipe.
Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread
as seen on Recipezaar
1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons rosemary
2 tablespoons butter (I replaced this with a nice green olive oil)
1 egg white and sea salt, optional
1. Place yeast, sugar and water in large bowl or food processor and allow mixture to become bubbly.
2. Mix in 1 T butter (or olive oil), salt, and 2 cups of flour.
3. Add one tablespoon of the fresh chopped rosemary.
4. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or in food processor about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
5. Add more flour if necessary. (You can avoid adding too much by kneading for the full 10 minutes--the dough gets less sticky as you work it)
6. Oil a bowl (I use my beautiful antique yellow ware bowl, because it warms nicely when you run it under warm water and dry it, and retains warmth well as well), put dough in it, flip it so the whole dough ball is coated, and cover with a towel.
7. Let dough rise in a warm place for one hour until doubled. A good place to do this, especially on a cold day, is in the oven with the oven light turned on.
8. Punch down dough and divide in half.
9. Let dough rest about 5 minutes.
10. Spray baking pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray (I rubbed my pan with more olive oil, to get a crispy bottom crust and assure the olive oil taste).
11. Shape the dough into 2 small rounded oval loaves. They're going to look small--don't panic.
12. Sprinkle remaining 1 Tablespoon of rosemary over the loaves and press lightly into the surface.
13. Let loaves rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.
14. Put the lower rack of your oven as close to the bottom as you can, and fill a roasting pan with one cup of hot water. Place this on the bottom rack. This will create a steam in the oven that will assure a crispy crust. Preheat oven to 375° F. Put the sheet in the oven, releasing as little steam as you can.
15. Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Take out of the oven and brush with egg white, so that you get a shiny crust. Sprinkle with sea salt if you like. Return the pan to the oven and bake another 5 minutes.
16.Carefully remove from oven, brush with remaining butter or oil, if you prefer your crust chewy. If not, skip this step and it will remain crusty.
I haven't tasted it yet, but if it tastes anything like it smells---oh brother!
The weather here today is gray and wintry, with little bursts of snow, and lends itself to dreams of comfort food. And when I was coming back into the house after switching cars so that the DH could go to his leg-shrinker, I noticed that I had a bumper crop of both rosemary and sage in the herb garden.
I'm a ginormous fan of both these herbs, and I got to thinking about how a nice plate of spaghetti would be a good cozy warm-up for dinner tonight--and that rosemary could be used to make an accompaniment that would celebrate the success of the home-grown herb.
I have a recipe for rosemary bread that claims to be a copycat of the bread served at Macaroni Grill. We don't have a Macaroni Grill anywhere around here, that I'm aware of, so I can't say if that's true, but I am a fan of the La Brea Olive Oil Rosemary bread that you can get at the market.
But why buy it when you can make it?
I tweaked things just a tad, of course, but here is the recipe.
Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread
as seen on Recipezaar
1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons rosemary
2 tablespoons butter (I replaced this with a nice green olive oil)
1 egg white and sea salt, optional
1. Place yeast, sugar and water in large bowl or food processor and allow mixture to become bubbly.
2. Mix in 1 T butter (or olive oil), salt, and 2 cups of flour.
3. Add one tablespoon of the fresh chopped rosemary.
4. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or in food processor about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
5. Add more flour if necessary. (You can avoid adding too much by kneading for the full 10 minutes--the dough gets less sticky as you work it)
6. Oil a bowl (I use my beautiful antique yellow ware bowl, because it warms nicely when you run it under warm water and dry it, and retains warmth well as well), put dough in it, flip it so the whole dough ball is coated, and cover with a towel.
7. Let dough rise in a warm place for one hour until doubled. A good place to do this, especially on a cold day, is in the oven with the oven light turned on.
8. Punch down dough and divide in half.
9. Let dough rest about 5 minutes.
10. Spray baking pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray (I rubbed my pan with more olive oil, to get a crispy bottom crust and assure the olive oil taste).
11. Shape the dough into 2 small rounded oval loaves. They're going to look small--don't panic.
12. Sprinkle remaining 1 Tablespoon of rosemary over the loaves and press lightly into the surface.
13. Let loaves rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.
14. Put the lower rack of your oven as close to the bottom as you can, and fill a roasting pan with one cup of hot water. Place this on the bottom rack. This will create a steam in the oven that will assure a crispy crust. Preheat oven to 375° F. Put the sheet in the oven, releasing as little steam as you can.
15. Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Take out of the oven and brush with egg white, so that you get a shiny crust. Sprinkle with sea salt if you like. Return the pan to the oven and bake another 5 minutes.
16.Carefully remove from oven, brush with remaining butter or oil, if you prefer your crust chewy. If not, skip this step and it will remain crusty.
I haven't tasted it yet, but if it tastes anything like it smells---oh brother!