Olive Loaf

I’m away traveling for 3 weeks, which is why during these few weeks I won’t be posting many recipes.  Food is very expensive and very limited in the fly-in communities I visit.  The produce section often consists only of potatoes, onions, bananas, and maybe a couple of other items if you are lucky.  A single large apple may cost you over $5.  You can’t get non-dairy alternatives or store-baked items.  So as you can probably see, recipe development is pretty much out of the question when I’m away.

When I travel, I bring flour with me because at least I can make some items that make me feel like home and to also get in my baking/cooking fix.  This olive loaf adds a bit of extra flavour to my not-so-exciting sandwiches this week.  While I don’t have access to a bread maker when I’m away (I’m lucky if I have a regular baking sheet), I prefer to do this recipe in a bread maker to save time.

INGREDIENTS
– 1 head of roasted garlic, or 1.5 teaspoons garlic powder
– 2.5 cups of all-purpose flour
– 1/2 cup of whole-wheat flour
– 1.5 teaspoons sea salt
– 2.5 teaspoons yeast
– 1 cup of water
– 1 Tablespoon olive oil
– 1.5 teaspoons dried thyme
– 1/2 cup of sliced Kalamata olives, rinsed, divided

DIRECTIONS
1. Combine all ingredients (except for 1/2 of the olives) into a bread machine.  Set the cycle to “dough.”
2. After the cycle is done, remove the dough from the pan onto a lightly floured surface.  Kneed in the remainder of the olives.
3. Shape your dough to how you would like it.  For example, if you are using a loaf pan, then shape it into a rectangle.
4. Put the loaf onto a baking sheet or in a baking pan that is lined with parchment paper.  Cover and let rise until almost double in size.
5. While you wait, preheat oven to 375F.
6. Bake your loaf for approximately 22-25 minutes, depending on the shape of your loaf.  The crust should be lightly browned.  The loaf should also sound hollow when tapped.
7. Remove the loaf from the baking sheet/loaf and place on a cooling rack until complete cooled.