Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Blitz Bread


Blitz Bread
from My Kitchen Cafe


I've never made bread of any kind before, but this sounded easy enough and it looked like one of our favorite restaurant breads, the peasant loaf at Macaroni Grill. I haven't eaten there in awhile but we think it turned out pretty close especially when dipped in balsamic and olive oil. I did have to let my bread rise for two hours rather than the recipe's 1hr (I think because it's dryer out here.)

1 1/2 cups warm water

3 Tbs Olive Oil, divided

1 1/4 tsp salt

3 1/2 cups flour

1 Tbs instant yeast

1/2 tsp garlic salt

3 tsp dried herb blend for sprinkling(oregan, basil, parsley, rosemary are good, but any that you like)

1. Lightly grease a 9x13 dish (I sprayed a little bit of Pam on the sides) then drizzle 2 Tbs olive oil to caot bottom.

2. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water then add salt, and garlic salt. Add flour and beat on high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds. ( I don't have a hand mixer so I just used my whisk to mix and combine dough evenly. It seemed to be just as effective even though I'm sure I didn't whisk on high.)

3. Scoop the sticky batter into prepared dish and spread it to the pan, cover with plastic wrap or towl, and let it rise at room temp for 60min, until it is puffy.

4. While rising preheat oven to 375.

5. Gently poke the dough all over with your index finger. (It helps to dip your finger in water first.)

6. Drizzle it lightly with remaining 1Tbs olive oil and sprinkle with dried herbs.

7. Bake until golden brown, 30-40 min.

8. Let cool 5 min, then take out of pan and cool on rack. Serve warm.

No comments: