Dipping Bread

My parents took pity on me.

I’m sure they suspected that I was existing on cereal, sandwiches, and breakfast cookies while Hubs was gone.  Therefore, they invited me and the youngest over for dinner.  (After I strongly hinted I needed to come over to eat.  And I wanted seafood.  Preferably shell-fish.  They’re just nice like that.)

Anyways, since they were going to be serving us King Crab legs (oh, yes, they went there – and it was good), I figured a nice daughter, who was learning to cook, should show up with something to contribute.

And when I saw this recipe In Katrina’s Kitchen, I knew it would be a perfect complement to our meal.

The Recipe:

Dipping Bread, adapted from In Katrina’s Kitchen

1 T active dry yeast

1 T sugar

1 c warm water (105°-115°F)

2 ½ c flour, separated

1 t salt

1 T dried oregano

2 T butter, melted

Sea salt

Combine yeast, sugar, and water in a large bowl and allow mixture to become bubbly (5-10 minutes).

Add 2 cups of flour, salt, and whatever seasonings you are using.  Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes by hand adding additional flour as necessary.  (I ended up adding a lot.)

 

Place dough ball into an oiled bowl and cover with a towel.  Let dough rise until doubled, about an hour.

 

Punch dough down and divide into 4 sections.  Let dough rest for 5 minutes.

 

Shape dough into oblong loaves and place on greased baking sheet.  Brush with melted butter and seasonings.  Let rise for 25 minutes.

 

Just before baking sprinkle with sea salt.  Bake at 400°F for 12-16 minutes until golden brown.

 

The Dip, from me

 

In individual mini-bowls, place about 1 – 2 T extra virgin olive oil.  Add a splash of good balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of kosher or sea salt.

 

{Printable Recipe}

 

 The Results:

 

Hey, I think I’m finally getting this bread thing down.  I started this one night after 8, and I thought for sure I’d be in big trouble, but everything went very smoothly.

 

I even hand-kneaded for the 10 minutes and it wasn’t bad at all.  My only problem was equally dividing the dough and forming the four separate loaves into oblong shapes.  Mine looked more like ovals. 

 

Since I’d made it the night before, I just heated it up in a 400 degree oven for a couple of minutes to crisp up the crust.  And that worked out great (except for when I accidentally dropped one of the loaves onto the heating element – oops.  I saved it in time, though).

 

Unfortunately, Hubs still had the camera with him camping, so there are no how-to pictures to share.  I did though, borrow my folk’s camera and have some finished product pics.

 

I loved that we each had our own mini-loaves – no fighting about who gets the last piece, and all that.

And the flavor was great with the herbs throughout the dough.  The dipping sauce was amazing, too (maybe because my parents let me use their 25 year aged balsamic – oh boy!  As my mom described it, it’s like dessert).

Finally a much-needed, full baking win for me! 

Thank goodness.