Rosemary and Olive Oil Farmhouse Bread

How are your resolutions going? How are we already 10 days into 2012?

Did you make any this year? Do you have un-fun goals or good ones?

I’ve never been big on New Year’s Resolutions. If I want to do something bad enough, I would hope I could make that goal and work on it any time during the year.

But I definitely have some things I want to do this year.

I want my 2012 to be full of:

page-turners

family and friends

hugs + kisses

long weekends

music

puppy cuddles

happy hours with friends

callouses from re-learning guitar, and headaches from re-learning piano

more delicious food than I had in 2011

homemade bread, any time I have the time to make it

When we were painting the dining room a few weekends ago, I took my favorite farmhouse bread recipe and made a couple new spins on the recipe.

The only thing we still have growing in the yard right now is fresh rosemary, and I’m still completely in love with it.

Rosemary, a big pinch of salt, and a quick drizzle of olive oil takes an awesome loaf of homemade bread to an even more awesome level.

If you haven’t made any resolutions yet, do me a favor? Let’s make 2012 the Year of Homemade Bread – are you in?

Rosemary and Olive Oil Farmhouse Bread

Makes: 2 loaves, 12-16 slices each

Ingredients:

• 3 cups bread flour
• 1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
• 1/4 cup canola or safflower oil
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (2 packages)
• 2 1/4 cups warm water
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer or other large bowl, mix the bread flour, honey/agave, oil, salt, and yeast.
2. Add warm water to flour mixture and mix together until the water is incorporated.
3. Stir in the all purpose flour, 1 cup at a time, until the dough is mixed together and is easy to handle.
4. Knead dough (with dough hook or by hand) until it is smooth and springs back when you touch it (about 5 minutes).
5. Place the dough in a large bowl that has been coated with1 Tbsp of the olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a towel and sit in a warm place to rise for 40-60 minutes or until dough has doubled.
6. Punch dough down, knead in the last tablespoon of olive oil and the fresh rosemary and divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rectangle (the width of your loaf pans), roll up and place into your greased loaf pans.
7. Cover the loaf pans with plastic wrap or a towel and let the dough rise, again, in a warm place 40-60 minutes, or until doubled.
8. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and place rack in the middle of the oven.
9. Bake bread for 40-45 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and they sound hollow when tapped.
10. Remove from the oven and let them cool 5 minutes before removing from the pans.