Tag Archives: bread

Pa Amb Oli (Bread with Oil)

Great bakery in town with Pa Amb Oli if you are ready for savory. Otherwise, go for the chocolate croissant.

Great bakery in town with Pa Amb Oli if you are ready for savory. Otherwise, go for the chocolate croissant.

I just got back from a great trip to Mallorca, Spain. I was biking for a week with 4 amazing, funny, strong, and interesting women.  I had not heard of this biking mecca until I asked a friend where she goes on biking trips.  She said without taking a breath, “go to Mallorca”.  Well, she was right!  It is an island off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean.  The roads are in great shape, the entire island is bike-able, and what’s not to like about biking along the Mediterranean coast!  We rode everywhere, and in between rides, we feasted at the cafes, restaurants, and farmer’s markets along the way (good thing for all the biking because the eating was constant). We tried to pick favorites in different categories like…. what was our favorite ride (Sa Colabra), what was our favorite village (Bunlyola), what was our favorite bakery (Fornalutx – see photo above).   But when it came to the food, hands down the Pa Amb Oli won across the board. It is a must do when on the island of Mallorca and it will be a must bring on our list of Bring It recipes. Plus, it really doesn’t get any easier than this. It’s just bread with oil after all! .

Ingredients

Brown country bread that you can find in local bakeries
Extra virgin olive oil
4 beefsteak tomatoes
Optional: Cheese, processed meat, olives, sautéed vegetables
Salt

Method

Cut bread into slices (not to thin) and place on a plate. Rub the tomatoes into the bread to remove the pulp and skin, leaving a sort of mashed tomato on the bread. Add salt to taste and olive oil, which will help the salt and tomato to penetrate into the bread. Add cheese, meat, vegetables, olives or whatever toppings you choose. Place in 350 degree oven to heat for 10 minutes.

If it’s hard to imagine what this is, Google Pa Amb Oli and you will see a plethora of ideas for this “bread with oil” treat.  Here is a link for your optional research.

Easiest French Bread Ever

RED ALERT NOTE! This was originally published with the wrong flour measurement. It is corrected here, and please accept my sincere apologies for the gluteny messes that ensued from mistake.  I owe y’all some bread flour!

The title says it all. If you are intimidated by the thought of making bread, but you really like the idea of busting out homemade bread, start here! It is a no knead bread that takes way less time than other bread recipes, and, like the very best friends, is totally low maintenance. You can cut the second rise time,  leave it in the loaf pans way too long, manhandle it into the unruliest looking loaves imaginable and it still turns out tasty. And whose going to complain about looks when you bring fresh bread? That’s right–nobody!

Ingredients:

  • 6 cups bread flour
  • 1 Tbsp EACH sugar, salt (a little less) and instant yeast
  • 3 cups warm water

Method:

Mix in large bowl—it will be wet enough that you only have to use a wooden spoon.  Mix until [wet] ball forms. Don’t waste time over mixing and do not knead.  Cover with towel and let rise about 1 1/2 hours.

rising-dough-french-breadDough is risen and ready to be punched/shaped.

 

French-loaves-rising 

Very imperfect loaves rising in their pan

Sprinkle dough liberally with more flour. Punch down and divide the mass in ball-like halves. It’ll still be wet and will get your hands goopy. Grab one ball at a time and pull/shape/plop it onto a French bread loaf pan coated with non-stick spray (or give the ozone layer a break and just wipe it with some vegetable oil. Let loaves rise about another hour. If it overflows just fold the overflow back over the loaf. * Trust the process. It’ll be fine, though you may have funky shaped loaves the first few times.

French-bread-baked

Golden and delicious. Turn your back and there’s already a piece missing.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Bake about 20 minutes or until it’s deep golden brown. Let cool in pan and then gently pry it out with a small spatula or metal frosting spreader.

As mentioned above some of us have fudged the timing mightily— roughly wrestled over-risen loaves back in their place; cooked it too long or brought it partially baked and finished it by warming it at the place we are visiting. It’s always a hit. The only must is that you get the French or Italian bread pan. It’s a $20 investment that will change your life…or somebody else’s life if you give them a pan along with a freshly baked loaf. Mmmmmm–Good idea!

*At this point if you realize your math was off and what were you thinking–pick-up is in an hour!– just pop the pan in the fridge and come back to it.

Bring it!

Make it a double gift by bringing it in its own loaf pan (see above), or wrap it in a nice dishtowel and wedge it into the bag of whatever else is making the trip.