I made a very nice dinner last night: Pork chops with a nice oyster mushroom, carrot and shallot ragout; mashed potatoes; and sauteed green beens with garlic. I had a hankering for a little something extra, and decided to make a quick yeasted bread (quick being a relative term).
Ingredients:
- 1/4 c. warm water
- 1 package quick rising yeast (1 tsp would work as well)
- 1 t honey
- ~ 1/2 c. All purpose flour
- 3 c. (approx.) whole wheat flour
- 1 T olive oil
- 1/2 t salt
- Fresh herbs (I used thyme, rosemary and chives from my garden)
- butter, chunky salt
* All measurements are approximated, as usual with breads, I just guesstimate amounts an use what "feels right"
In a bowl, dissolve honey and yeast in the warm water. The water temperature should be close to body temp. Once you start seeing tiny bubbles, add the all purpose flour, stir until mixed and let stand, covered in a warm place for half an hour.
At this point, you should have a lovely sponge. Add the olive oil and salt and stir in gently until incorporated. Then start adding the whole wheat flour. You should strive to only use as much flour as you need to make the dough just so you can knead it without it sticking too much. Knead it for a little, not too much, just until it feels smooth. Make the dough into a ball, tucking under. Put some olive oil on the dough, spread it all over, and set back in the bowl, tucked side down.
Let rise for at least half an hour, though an hour or two would be better (punch the dough once after an hour if you're doing it longer than one hour.
Preheat oven to 400ºF (205ºC). If you have a pizza stone and peel, use that. Otherwise, a plain baking sheet will work fine. Sprinkle a little bit of corn meal on the peel or baking pan. Then, use your hands to flatten and stretch the dough into a flat rectangle shape, place it on your peel or baking pan and really flatten it out. Let it rest for another half hour (15 minutes minimum). Spread butter on top of the dough, sprinkle with some good salt (big chunky salt is best for this) and your fresh herbs. You spritz a little more olive oil on top if you want that olive flavor. Poke the dough down with your fingers every inch or so, then throw into the oven to bake.
Keep an eye on it, it should only take 10 to 20 minutes to bake. Take it out and try to cut and serve immediately. I'd love this with something to dip it into... hummus or a nice tapenade... yum.
As you can see, this is just a simple bread recipe, cutting down on rising times makes this more cracker like, as does making the dough really thin and the high temperature for baking. This is an easy thing to do while juggling the other dishes in an elaborate dinner.