Garlic Rosemary Bread

Right now my kitchen is a complete disaster. Little G has recently decided that any food he does not eat should go on the floor. I don’t always catch him in time to stop him. This morning was one of those times. We made muffins. My favourite recipe. (I will share it another time though because today we’re talking about bread.) I have no energy to clean up. Trent is in Paris for a couple of days and little G has used up all of my energy. I could honestly spend the entire day on the couch and not feel bad about it. If only…
My mother in law is one of those women who lives to be a mother. She is the epitome of a homemaker. When her children are there she immediately opens up the cupboards in her kitchen, intent on filling any and all empty stomachs. She is a woman who seems to feel truly fulfilled when she is serving and taking care of family.

She even makes her own bread a few times a month. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a store bought loaf of bread in their home. Trent always says that soup or pasta is not complete without a nice loaf of bread to go along with it. This idea of his comes from his mother always having fresh baked bread with these kinds of meals. Unfortunately for Trent, many of my meals have been and will continue to be incomplete because of this. I have never been much of a bread person. (Gasp!) It’s not something that I crave, ever. So I will most likely continue to forget freshly baked bread to go with our soups and pastas and poor Trent will continue to have incomplete meals.

One day, I did remember bread. I’ve made this recipe a few times. It’s easy. It’s relatively quick, for bread. (I’ve seen quite a few crusty bread recipes that take 12+ hours to rise. I’m hardly that on top of the ball for those.) I’ve adapted this recipe and it has been a hit with my two bread lovers (little G seems to take after his daddy in that regard.)

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water (100-110 F)
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped (or 2 tsp. dried)
1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning (or pinch of each ground garlic, dried oregano, and dried basil)1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 cups white or whole wheat flour + extra for kneading
1 egg, whisked + 1 Tbsp. water, for egg wash (from time to time I forget this step. It’s not critical.)
dried rosemary, for sprinkling

Process:
In a large bowl, combine the warm water, sugar, and yeast. Let sit 10 minutes to proof.

Stir in the salt, rosemary, seasonings, olive oil, and 1 1/2 cups of the flour. Add remaining flour until it forms a ball. Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, adding more flour as necessary to prevent sticking, until smooth. (If you have a mixer with a kneading attachment it can also be done in that.)

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl; cover; and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and form it into a round loaf. Place it on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or parchment paper; cover; and let rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven (and pizza stone) to 400 F. Once the dough has risen, gently brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle with dried rosemary.

Bake on preheated stone for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.

Makes 1 round loaf.