Heaven on Earth

Heaven on Earth

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Olive Spelt Bread



Olive Spelt Bread?  Hmmm...Nancy Silverton makes a kalamata olive bread that I like but not everyone in my family likes the slightly bitter taste of the black olives in her bread.  Since I loved the focaccia that I made with the avocado bread a while back, and because this dough is very wet and sticky, that's what it became...focaccia.  There was an open jar of Manzanilla stuffed green olives in the Spring City fridge, so my bread has pimento in it as well.  The pimentos add a nice touch of bright color to the dough, so why pick them out?

The process for mixing this dough is the same technique used in the other doughs from Healthy Bread in Five.
After letting it rest overnight in the refrigerator, I formed it into a rectangle and set it into a greased 9x13-inch Pyrex pan.  Flour your fingers well and often and punch indentations into the dough.  I drizzled it with a premium quality olive oil that I save for finishing.  It looks like a lot of olive oil in the photo doesn't it?  It's not; it just fell into the holes. Besides adding extra flavor, I was hoping the olive oil would help the bread get nice and crunchy on top.  It didn't.  Next time I bake focaccia I will brush some egg wash on top for more color.  It was a little pale in my opinion.  A sprinkle of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper did add a nice flavor touch.  Let it raise for 90 minutes (60 minutes does it for my altitude) and into the oven at 450 degrees Farenheit for 20  minutes.

This is good bread.  Not my favorite from the book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day but it is moist and pretty.  I prefer a chewier and crispier loaf and I found the green olives a bit bland.  If I make this bread again I will try a bolder flavored olive.  I guess that's why I like Nancy Silverton's bread better, but it was fun to try this one.  Go to Michelle's site (Big Black Dog) to see what everyone else in the group did with this recipe. 

16 comments:

  1. Your bread looks beautiful. I'm trying to decide how much I like the flavor of this bread-- I agree with your thoughts. The black olives might be a good addition.

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  2. I can't decide. It's definitely not my favorite. What did or didn't you like about it?

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  3. Yeah I never seem to be able to get a really good crust on these breads. Is it something that I am doing wrong? If you have any bread tips you could share that would be awesome!

    I definitely liked this bread though. What a great crumb!

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  4. Hi Joanne,

    I think this dough was so soft and wet that it couldn't get a good crust. Cooking it longer would not help. I think that problem lies in type of recipe it is not the technique. It does have a great crumb, I agree.

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  5. I tried the black olives for my first batch but then I made a second batch and used green olives. We much preferred the green olive bread.

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  6. Looks good to me.........great job

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  7. Your focaccia looks good. Very colorful! I loved this bread, but I didn't put olives in my version so it was just Spelt Bread. It makes a very good sandwich loaf.

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  8. I love focaccia and yours looks grand. I actually haven't made this one yet. I was hoping the olive taste wouldn't be too subtle as I happen to love green olives. Looking forward to trying it!

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  9. I did not try this one. I do not really care for olives. Hubs does though so I might get around to it another time. Yours looks good!

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  10. great looking foccasia. Your crumb looks so nice and moist.

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  11. Your bread always has such great texture and crumb. Great photos too.

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  12. This dough must have made a wonderful-tasting foccacia! I just made the loaf which we loved. It had a wonderful texture.

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  13. I think it looks delicious! I love olive bread! You do such a nice job!

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  14. Such great pictures! I'm surprised how colorful the bread turned out. I'll have to give it a try sometime when I have the time.

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  15. I think this is a great recipe. I add oil cured black olives with chunks of garlic to a semolina bread...so I can see why you said the green olives were bland. But I love the color the pimento added.

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  16. It looked beautiful on the inside!

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