Keeping it fresh, like bread.

Last week Anna received a very kind and culinary gift from one of our favorite people - Nancy Arnold. The present - a pistachio-colored KitchenAid mixer - arrived in the mail on a Friday and the baking commenced that Sunday.

Anna test drove her new favorite toy by making some delicious rosemary bread, and lucky for you I documented the process with my camera. Hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed the rosemary bread.

And now, I am going to turn it over to Anna so she can give you the recipe for her now world-famous rosemary bread...

-Patrick

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First of all, you should understand this was a really big deal in our household.  We stared at the dough every step of the way.  We even sat on the floor in front of the oven and watched the loaves bake.  It was a first attempt that just happened to be a success!

There is naturally a fair amount of waiting involved, but the actual steps to making these little loaves are really straightforward.  Completely worth the wait too! We came out with four smallish loaves, which was enough to take two to our friends down the street and for us to then sit and eat the other two (dipped in olive oil and pepper, caprese salad on the side) in a single sitting.

So without further ado:  the recipe.

Rosemary Bread

Ingredients:

1/4 oz. packet active dry yeast
2 tsp. white sugar
2 Tbsp. olive oil (plus more for brushing/serving)
2-1/2 c. all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
3 Tbsp. fresh chopped rosemary
1 tsp. fine salt
1/2 tsp. kosher salt/coarse sea salt

What to do:

1.  In mixer bowl:  yeast + sugar + 1/4 c. warm water

Stir and let sit 5 minutes.

2.  Add 1 Tbsp. olive oil + flour + 2 Tbsp. rosemary + fine salt + 3/4 c. warm water

Mix on low speed (using the bread hook) until you have dough.

3.  Knead in mixer on medium speed for 8 minutes.  If the dough sticks, add a little flour.

4.  Brush a separate large bowl with olive oil.  Add the little dough ball, cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours.

Little dough ball....

BIG DOUGH BALL!

5.  Line two baking sheets with parchment.

Put dough on floured surface and divide into 4 pieces.

Flour the dough pieces and fold the edges and corners under to make a nice little dome.  Put the dough on the baking sheet, seam side down, two domes per sheet.

I'll bet you thought it was about to go into the oven.  I did.  But no - now you wait 2 more hours (uncovered) while the dough rises again!

6.  First, bake at 400 for 10 minutes.

7.  Brush the loaves with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt and the rest of the rosemary.  Then bake for 10 minutes more.

That's it! You can transfer them right away over to a rack to cool, but we only waited a few minutes before tearing into the first loaf.

And there you have it! Fresh baked rosemary bread.  Yum.