Greta suggested I make a Greek style bread with Feta cheese and olives. I hesitant to make it at first but then the idea of substituting the olives with sun-dried tomatoes appealed to me. So I decided to experiment, here is my recipe.

• 300 grams of Bob’s Artisan Flour – any AP unbleached flour will work
• 100 grams of whole wheat flour.
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 cup of feta cheese crumbled
• 1 cup of sun-dried tomatoes – chopped
• ** 3/4 teaspoon of yeast – if you let it rise over night – 12 to 18 hours.
• ** 1 package of instant yeast if you only have 3 or 4 hours to let it rise.
• 1-1/4 cups of water – room temperature.

Directions
– Mix the flours, sugar, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl.
– Crumble the feta, chop the sun-dried tomatoes and pat dry with paper towel.
– Add the feta and sun-dried tomatoes to the dry ingredients and stir until well coated.
– Slowly stir in the water. Cover and let rise – depending on the yeast you used.
Baking – Preheat oven and Dutch oven to 450 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes at 450, with the lid of the Dutch oven, then reduce temperature to 399 degree and bake 10 more minutes. Then, remove the lid and bake for another 12 to 15 minutes to allow the bread to get crusty.

I think this bread turned out very good. Next time however, I substitute Kalamata olives for the sun-dried tomatoes and add a tablespoon of dried oregano.

Walnut & Raisin Bread – Loaf #45

At 11AM on Saturday morning I decided I needed a bread for breakfast for Sunday brunch. I knew I was going to go on a long bike ride Sunday morning so I needed to bake it Saturday night. So, I used a package of instant yeast and let it rise for about 5-1/2 hours. This bread tasted better after being toasted, was not sweet and very dense – weighted 853 grams(1.88 lbs.) after it was baked.

Ingredients
– 250 grams of Bob’s Artisan Flour – any All-Purpose flour would work.
– 65 grams of ground oats – I ground my own in a old coffee grounder.
– 85 grams of whole wheat flour.
– 1 teaspoon salt.
– 1 teaspoon walnut oil
– 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.
– 1 tablespoon sugar – next time I’ll use brown sugar.
– 1 tablespoon ground flax seed – I think, I will leave out next time.
– 1 cup organic raisins
– 1 cup walnuts – chopped.
– 1 package of instant yeast.
– 1-1/4 cups of room temperature water.

Directions
– Mix the flours, sugar, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl.
– Add the raisins and walnuts to the dry ingredients and stir until well coated.
– Slowly stir in the water. Cover and let rise – depending on the yeast you used.
Baking – Preheat oven and Dutch oven to 450 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes at 450, with the lid of the Dutch oven, then reduce temperature to 399 degree and bake 10 more minutes. Then, remove the lid and bake for another 12 to 15 minutes to allow the bread to get crusty.