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I love this delicious sourdough bread with olives in it. Give it a try!
For more great Low Fat Recipes, Low Calorie Recipes, Low Carbohydrate recipes, and Diabetic Recipes, check out
my
Diet Recipe Index. Also check out my
Nutritional Chart for fat grams, fiber grams, and calories for all your favorite foods.
Bread Making Hints:
Secrets to using the bread machine,
About yeast in bread making, and
Sourdough Starter - How to make a Sourdough Starter.
More great
Bread Recipes,
Sourdough Bread Recipes and
Quick Bread Recipe for all your bread making.
Moroccan Sourdough Bread - Ksra Bread
Recipe Type:
Sourdough Bread ,
Sourdough Starter
Yields: 1 large loaf
Prep time: 15 min
Rise time: 1 to 3 hours
Cook time: 25 minutes
Total time: 4 hour
Ingredients:
2 cups lukewarm water (110°F)
2 cups
sourdough starter, room temperature*
2 teaspoons active dry instant
yeast
1/2 teaspoon diastatic malt (optional)**
7 to 8 cups bread
flour***
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon finely-minced fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons
olive oil
2 cups Kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped (I usually cut them in halves)
Semolina flour, for dusting
 * If you don't presently have a sourdough starter, either
make your own
sourdough starter or purchase Packaged Sourdough Starter Mix by mail-order.
** Diastatic malt is powdered malted grain, usually barley,
but wheat, and rice may also be malted It breaks down the starch in dough to yield sugars on which the yeast can feed.
*** The thickness of your sourdough starter can determine how
much flour needs to be used. If you think the dough is too moist, add additional flour (a tablespoon at a time). The same is true if the dough is looking dry and gnarly. Add warm
water (a tablespoon at a time). Your dough should not be sticky but should form a niceelastic ball. I usually have to add extra flour.
Preparation:
Combine water, sourdough starter, yeast, and diastatic malt
in the bowl of a mixer; stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, just to moisten. Fit
the mixer with a dough hook. Add flour, salt, rosemary, and olive oil; mix the dough on
medium speed for 6 to 8 minutes until dough snaps back quickly.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board; add olives and
knead by hand for several turns to be sure the olives are well incorporated and the dough
is smooth, adding additional flour if needed. NOTE: Knead dough by pulling the dough
towards you and then pushing down and forward with the palms of your hands (kneading gives
the bread the elasticity and lets it rise).
 Place the dough in a lightly oiled large bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap Let rise
until it doubles in volume (when you can put your finger in the dough and it leaves and indentation and doesn't spring back out) approximately 4 to 8 hours (depending on the
temperature and the starter used, the rising time can vary as much as 2 hours).
Punch dough down and knead it on a floured board to feed itone more time before baking. Divide dough in half and shape each dough ball into a loaf or
round shape (boule); place on a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet that is dusted with cornmeal (I use the
Silicone Baking Mats instead of cornmeal). Cover with plastic wrap and place ina warm spot to rise until doubled in size, approximately 1 to 3 hours.
Oven Bread Rising: Sometimes I use my oven for the rising. Turn the oven on for a minute or so, then turn it off again.
This will warm the oven and make it a great environment for rising bread. If you can't comfortably press your hand against the inside of the oven door, the oven is too hot.
Let it stand open to cool a bit. Sourdough rises more slowly than yeast bread; Always remember, the longer the rise time, the more sourdough flavor.
Cool or Refrigerator Bread Rise: If I don't have the time to wait for the rise to finish or I know that I will be interrupted before the
completed rise, I do a cool rise. A cool rise is when the dough is place in the refrigerator and left to rise slowly over night approximately 8 to 12 hours. I
usually do this after the first rise and the dough has been shaped into a loaf. As this is a longer rise time, it improves the sourdough flavor in your finished
bread.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. After the bread has risen,
slash the bread with a bread razor or a very sharp knife making three 1/2-inch deep
diagonal slashes. Brush or spray the top of the bread with cold water. Slide the trays in
the oven. Spray the oven with a spray bottle full of water and close the oven door. Thirty
seconds later, open the oven door and mist the oven again. Repeat this two more times,
then turn the oven temperature down to 400 degrees F. and let the bread bake for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, turn the bread around 180 degrees so it can
brown evenly; bake another 10 minutes or until nicely browned.
NOTE: A good check is to use an
digital thermometer to test your bread. The temperature should be between 200 and
210 degrees F.
 This
is the type of cooking and meat thermometer that I prefer and use in my cooking. I get many readers
asking what cooking/meat thermometer that I prefer and use in my cooking and baking. I, personally, use the
Thermapen Thermometer shown in the photo on the right. Originally designed for professional users, the
Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is used by chefs all over the world. To learn more about this excellent
thermometer and to also purchase one (if you desire), just click on the underlined:
Thermapen Thermometer.
Remove from oven and place bread on a wire rack to cool. Let the loaves cool for 30 minutes before cutting (this is because the bread is still cooking
while it is cooling).
Makes 2 large loaves.
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