Recipe: Caper and Olive Bread

Recipe Source: Orsini, Fr. Giuseppe.  Italian Baking Secrets.  St. Martin's Press, New York, 2007 pp. 72 - 3.

I mentioned a while ago about how I'd intended to make a shrimp bisque to make my husband happy, but it didn't work out.  I made this bread to go with the bisque.  Well, the bisque became a curry, which is great, but this bread didn't quite work with the curry.  There are a couple of reasons for that.  First, I'd short-sightedly used most of my olives for the Pasta with Olives and Pecorino dish, which left me with half as much of the wrong kind of olive as I needed.  I made up the difference with capers, which gave the bread a very briny flavor that I felt just didn't work with the curry.  My husband felt differently.  Secondly, the bread just didn't work out as well as I'd have liked.

This is the first time Fr. Orsini's recipes have steered me wrong, and I honestly think that the recipe itself is only partially responsible for my displeasure.  The recipe called for no sugar for the yeast to eat as they proofed and rose.  I thought that was a little odd, but I followed the recipe instead of my instincts.  The second problem has less to do with Fr. Orsini and more to do with my kitchen and the New England weather.  My kitchen was cold that day, very cold, and I couldn't really justify running the oven for three hours before I actually needed to cook.  The end result was that my bread really didn't rise, and a recipe that should have made two loaves made one. 

So I wasn't really thrilled with this recipe.  My husband liked it - it wasn't his favorite, but he enjoyed it, and he actually intervened to save the bread when I was ready to call it a loss.  The dog liked it too, so much that he brought the leftovers back into the TV room much to my consternation and ire. 

Olive and Caper Bread (serves 8; approx. $0.89/serving)

3 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1/4 cup olive oil

6 ounces pitted black olives

6 ounces capers

3.416664 cups all-purpose flour (this works out to 3 3/4 cups less 1/3 cup - I should have measured this out by weight for you, I apologize)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Equipment:

• Stand mixer with paddle and dough hook attachments
• Small bowl
• Baking sheet

1. Proof the yeast with the water in the small bowl.  Let stand 10 minutes.
2. In the bowl of the stand mixer, combine the yeast and water mixture, the flour, the oil, the olives, the salt and the capers with the paddle attachment.  Mix 2 minutes on low speed.
3. Switch to the dough hook and knead 4 - 5 minutes. 
4. Cover and let rise until doubled, 1 - 2 hours.
5. Shape the dough into a loaf.  Cover and let rise another hour. 
6. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
7. Slash the top of the loaf.
8. Reduce the heat of the oven to 400 degrees and bake 35 - 40 minutes. 

Comments

[Sophie]

MMMMMM,....your bread looks so rustic & delicious!!

[nora@ffr]

this is fantastic!
cheers!

[Angie's Recipes]

I have yet baked any bread with caper! This sounds fantastic!
Angie's Recipes

[Joanne]

"The dog liked it too, so much that he brought the leftovers back into the TV room much to my consternation and ire." - Classic. I laughed out loud at this.

Personally I think the bread looks delicious. But then again I am a caper and olive addict. I can understand why it didn't mesh well with the curry. It probably would have been better with it's original intent.

[lululu]

love both olive and caper! perfect bread!

[Bill]

read thje recipe, it will not work. insufficient liquid. I added 1 1/2 cups warm water. it made a nice loaf.