What a handsome loaf! This was one of those recipes that comes into creation when the pantry is low-- and thank goodness!
Now, there is nothing so wonderful to me as a fresh loaf of rosemary and roasted garlic bread. However, having made it many a time over the last year, I wanted to try something new. So... how about some fresh herbs? and poppyseeds? and a wee touch (or not so wee) of honey? Savory and sweet, a wonderfully surprising crunch of poppyseeds, and a crust to tell the grandchildren about.
The basic bread recipe is one I've been using for about a year now, from Vogue's Jeffrey Steingarten. This is the recipe as I've made it here.
Herbed Poppyseed Bread
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1/4 cup poppyseeds
- 2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp fresh chopped basil
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried oregano
Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix wet ingredients and stir until honey dissolves completely. Add wet ingredients to dry, and mix with hands until it forms a ball. Cover and let rise 18 (anywhere from 12 to 24, depending on temperature-- 18 is usually safe) hours.
Over a floured surface, invert the bowl and scrape the dough out. spread the ball out with your hands to form a 10" square. Fold the dough in thirds lengthwise, then again in the other direction, to make a smaller square pouch. Smooth the creases and return to a floured bowl to rise another 2 hours.
After 1 hour of rising, put a casserole or bread dish, with lid, into the oven and preheat at 450 to 500 degrees (I keep it at 470). After the second hour, slide the dough into the dish. Bake 30 minutes covered (the lid keeps in steam, creating a crispy crust). Remove lid and bake an additional 15-25 minutes.
If possible, refrain from eating until it is just warm to the touch-- supposedly some flavor is lost if you cut it too early. But who can resist?
I think nothing does justice to fresh bread like a bowl of soup-- so I had it with a fresh vegetable soup. This one has tomatoes, basil, potatoes, zucchini, carrots, and dun dun dun... ONIONS! (Which I have always hated, probably because when I was little someone made me eat their onion stew, which was onion grass mashed up with a rock, with hose water poured over it.) But believe you me, they actually make this soup better. So they can stick around in soups, but that's it!
Hot soup is some kind of miracle on days like today, when it's about five degrees and dark by five o'clock. And it goes great with the movie Manon of the Spring, if you get the chance. Sometimes you have to say Hooray for winter! Without it, we may not love hot soup and warm bread.
