to flog a dead horse

yes. yes i know. my last post involved olive bread. but just hear me out, because i know you're a tough crowd. my last loaf was a spelt olive bread, and it didn't have olive oil, yeah. this is a rye olive loaf and it has a whopping two tabes of olive oil, so technically it's not the same (smarty pants).

listen, before you judge me for being monotonous and just plain dull, just know that i wasn't even going to post this loaf. my last olive was so good i just wanted to make another, you know, to have around, because olive bread is da bomb. but, see, here's the thing, as soon as i had my first slice (i couldn't even wait a whole hour to let it cool, the aroma was that heady) the first thing i thought was oh, yeah, i need to pass this along.

dude. you sort of need this formula. it is, to date, the absolute best olive bread that i have ever made (or eaten. ever.), and i want it to be the best olive bread that YOU have ever made too.

see? share. i like sharing, especially the most fabulous things, because then i'm not the only one who's happy, you're happy too. and isn't the world so much sweeter when we are all happy, or at least striving to be?

here's the verdict:

CRUMB: the crumb of this loaf was ineffable. it was tender, like butter or a baby's backside, or something like that. CRUST: and the crust was so shattery and ethereal that it was like eating glass. ok, maybe not that deleterious, but you get what i'm saying. FLAVOR: the flavor was rich, so rich, and olivey to the tenth power.

i'm telling you, if this does not make it to your top ten then you are a tough crowd, because frankly, it has succeeded in crowning mine.

the best olive bread in the whole wide world

THE FORMULA

* just a note on rye flours. in this formula, i use 'to your health' rye flour here, which is incredibly thirsty, astonishingly so, actually. if you don't have 'to your health' flour, and decide to use another flour, say, bob's red mill dark rye, then you will have to adjust the hydration accordingly or you are going to end up with an overly hydrated dough. i would, for instance, if using bobs red mill dark rye, begin with about 325g of h2o for the dough. 375g will likely be way too high.

please notice the difference between the 'thirst quality' of to your health sprouted rye flour and bobs red mill, exhibited here in these two levains. the top photo is one of a levain using the same ratio of rye flour, starter and h2o and uses to your health sprouted rye flour as the bottom photo, which bob's red mill rye flour. they were both fermented for 8 hours. as you can see, 'to your health' makes a pretty stalwart mass of levain, even after full fermentation compared to the bob's red mill.

so again, adjust your hydration to account for this. i am aware that 'to your health' is rather obscure, and you probably cannot get it in other countries. given my experience, i would suggest starting with 325g of h2o if using bob's red mill (or another brand), adding small measures more until you reach proper hydration if necessary.

 to your health 100% hydration starter, fermented for 8 hours, notice how stiff it is

 bob's red mill 100% hydration starter, fermented for 8 hours, notice how loose it is, compared to the one above

now, onto the formula!

YOU WILL NEED:

135g rye levain (formula following)
90g sprouted TYH rye flour
100g KA bread flour
310g KA A/P
375g h2o
190g pitted kalamata olives, drained well
90g pitted black oil cured olives
2 TB good, fruity olive oil
8g salt

THE NIGHT BEFORE THE DOUGH

make a levain:

35g 100% whole rye, 100% hydration starter
50g TYH sprouted rye
50g h2o

mix this together, cover, and ferment for about 8 hours, but please determine the health and viability of your levain using your own discretion. mine fermented in 6.5 hours, but yours may need more time than that. this is one of those areas of bread making where if you manage your powers of perception skillfully, you will make consistently lovely loaves of bread. if you over or under ferment your levain, your dough will be imbalanced.

DOUGH DAY

dissolve the levain in the 375g water, mix in the rye, A/P, and bread flours until you reach a shaggy mass. autolyse for 1 hour.

after autolyse, squish the salt into the dough, and when you're done squishing, squish the olives and the olive oil into the dough as well.

BULK FERMENTATION TIME

for the first two hours you will perform a series of turns every half hour (for a total of four series), this is accomplished at room temperature. after the series of turns, pop the dough into the fridge and ferment for another 2 hours.

BENCH

after the dough has sufficiently fermented, turn out onto a work table that has been dusted with brown rice flour, cover with a bowl, and let it rest for 30 minutes. after the rest, shape the dough into a boule, dust a linen with brown rice flour, line a bowl with it, then in goes the dough. cover and refrigerate for 15 hours.

BAKE DAY

one full hour before bake time, get a bread stone and both parts of your combo cooker into the oven. preheat to 550.

after the preheat, pull the dough out of the fridge, cut a square of parchment and place it over the mouth of the bowl; now place a peel atop this and flip the peel and the bowl over in one deft movement. remove the bowl and the linen.

score your beauty and slide it into the shallow end of the combo cooker. pop the fatty end of the combo cooker on top, slide it all into the oven. turn the blasted thing down to 475 degrees and steam the loaf for 30 minutes.

after the steam, remove the fatty end of the combo cooker, slide the boule back into the oven and finish baking. mine took exactly 30 more minutes.

try to cool for at least an hour, but i tore into mine after 45 minutes.

to the staff of life!


(ps, you don't even have to wonder if i ate the olives off of the side of the bread while waiting for it to cool, 'cause you know i did.)

THE MUG SHOTS

this post was shared on wild yeast blog's yeast spotting.