Summer Thyme Bread Recipes

FRESH THYME BREAD WITH OLIVE OIL

Steps:

• Combine very warm water and yeast in a large bowl. Stir with a fork until yeast dissolves. Let stand 3 minutes, then add the poolish, cool water, olive oil, and thyme. Combine with your fingers for about 2 minutes, breaking up sponge until yeast mixture looks milky and slightly foamy.
• Add flours and salt. Mix with your fingers to incorporate, scraping the bowl's sides and folding dough over itself until it gathers into a mass. When sticky strands of dough cling to your fingers, gather it into a ball and move it to a lightly floured surface. If dough is very firm, add 1 tablespoon water.
• Knead dough for about 5 minutes, until it becomes smoother and supple. Put the dough back into the mixing bowl, cover it with oiled plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes to smooth out and develop elasticity.
• Return the dough to the lightly floured survace and knead for 2 to 3 minutes, until smooth and stretchy. Do not knead extra flour into the dough. It should be soft and loose.
• Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the dough with oiled plastic wrap and allow it to rise at room temperature (75 to 78°F) for 1 hour. After one hour, turn the dough while it is still in the mixing bowl. Gently deflate the dough in the middle of the bowl with your fingertips, then fold the left side over the middle, and the right side over the middle. Fold the dough in half, gently pat it down, and then turn it over so the seam is underneath. Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap or a large plastic bag, and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 8 hours or overnight.
• Remove from refrigerator and let warm until it begins to rise again, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
• Cover a peel or the back of a sheet pan with parchment paper, then sprinkle with cornmeal. Place dough, which may be quite sticky, on a well-floured surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Shape each into a boule, or round loaf. Flour the seam of each and place loaves, seam side down, on peel or pan, leaving 3 to 4 inches between them for rising and spreading. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rise for 1 ¼ to 1 ¾ hours, or until loaves have doubled in bulk.
• Thirty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450°F. Fill a plastic spray bottle with water and place a small pan (such as a mini loaf pan) on the lowest possible rack of the electric oven. Also place a cast-iron pan (that you are willing to get rusty) next to the small pan (I just used another small pan), fill a teakettle with water to be boiled later, and have a metal 1-cup measure with a straight handle available near the kettle.
• Five to 10 minutes before the loaves are ready to bake, carefully place 2 or 3 ice cubes in the small pan in the bottom of the oven. This helps to create moisture in the oven prior to baking. If using a water pan, also turn the water on to boil.
• Mist the tops of the loaves with water, then using a razor blade, cut a shallow tick-tack-toe pattern on top of each loaf, being careful not to tear dough. Gently slide loaves from the parchment onto the baking stone (if you're baking with a stone simply slide the sheet pan onto the empty oven rack). Pour 1 cup of boiling water into the cast-iron pan and immediately shut oven door. After about 1 minute, quickly mist loaves with water 6 to 8 times, then shut the oven door.
• Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 400°F and bake 10 to 15 minutes longer, until loaves are light golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Brush loaves with olive oil using a pastry brush. Cool on a rack.

MIDDLE EASTERN THYME BREADS

Steps:

• For topping, dry roast sesame seeds in a small frying pan for 3 minutes until golden.
• Cool and grind seeds in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder.
• Add thyme leaves, sumac and salt and combine.
• Combine honey and water in a large bowl.
• Sprinkle with the yeast and stand in a warm place for 5 minutes until foamy.
• Stir in plain flour, salt, oil and 1 cup of the wholemeal flour until combined, then add remaining flour and knead until a stiff dough forms.
• Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 15 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic.
• Place dough in a large lightly oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat in oil.
• Cover and stand in a warm spot for 2 hours.
• Dough will double in volumne.
• Knock dough down, tip onto lightly floured surface and knead lightly til smooth.
• Divide into 16 portions.
• Roll each portion into a 5cm x 12 cm oval.
• Place them on a baking paper lined tray covered with a tea towel as you work.
• Heat a heavy based frypan over medium heat.
• Brush or spray pan lightly with oil.
• Cook breads, in batches, for 1 minute each side, then place on oven trays.
• Brush breads with a little olive oil and sprinkle with sesame-herb topping.
• Bake in a 200 degree C oven for 5 minutes, or until golden and cooked through.
• Serve warm with Lebanese foods.

ROSEMARY, THYME AND GARLIC BREAD FOR BREAD MACHINE

Steps:

• 1. place all ingredients in the bread machine pan and put on the white bread cycle and start and wait till done. I dont like the shape of the bread so I use the dough cycle and bake in the oven at 375 degrees till golden brown.
• 2. When the bread is done I take and cover the bread loaf in press and seal while hot to make the bread mellow and soft instead of having a hard crust on it.

GARLIC-THYME BREAD

Steps:

• In a medium mixing bowl, combine yeast and water, and allow to stand in a warm place for 10 minutes or until foamy.
• Stir in oil, salt, garlic, thyme, and whole wheat flour.
• Add white flour 1/4 cup at a time, as needed, until a stiff manageable dough is formed.
• Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 to 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic.
• Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled.
• (For even more garlicky flavour, after the dough has risen once, punch it down and place in refrigerator for 1 to 3 days. Let it come to room temperature, and then proceed with the following directions.) Preheat oven to 450° and dust a baking sheet with cornmeal.
• If desired, work a bit of parmesan-reggiano into the dough at this point with some olive oil for extra flavour.
• Form the dough into a round, place on prepared cooking sheet, cover with plastic, and let rise for 30 minutes.
• Brush lightly with cold water, bake for 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 400° and continue baking for 20-30 minutes, or until loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.