Home Made Olive and Rosemary Bread

"What should I wear?" This is a question all girls ask themselves when they have a date. My main question however is "What should we eat?" Just as the perfect outfit says something about your personal style, your life, your choices, and who you are so does the food you make. Im insanely superstitious about the first meal I cook for a boy. Firstly I want to know what kind of message the meal will it send. You can't go all out and cook a roast on a first date....its much too serious, and to settled. Fish is weird for a first meal, don't ask me why, it just it (with the exception of cured fish....thats romantic.) Chicken is boring. Red meat is usually pretty safe. Its warm, and sort of sexy. If the man is vegetarian however you are really going to run into trouble there. Im all for home made breads and pastas but only if you really like the boy. You don't want to be spending hours kneading and proving a beautiful loaf of bread, to go and waste it on a fling.

The meal needs to be romantic (of course), interesting, and in some way a little hint of how you might feel for that person. In saying this though, you cant go all out. Serving a boy a seven course degustation meal pared with wines in the same as turning up to a casual date in a prom dress.....just a wee bit too much. On the other extreme, if you don't put in effort it would be the same as turning up in track pants and a jumper (which lets be honest, I couldn't do as I don't own either.)

Another awful mistake would be to cook a meal for a boy that you have cooked for an old flame. Its like taking him to a special place you had with an ex. It just feels weird. New memories must be made.

I know this all sounds terribly complicated, but in reality its one of my favourite parts of the start of a relationship. When recently talking to a friend about their desire to meet a man one of their main reasonings for needing a relationship was so that they would have someone to go to brunch with. In the same way I feel there is nothing quite so beautiful as cooking a meal for someone.

Whatever you decide to cook for your gentleman or lady caller, I firmly believe that making home made bread is one of the most romantic things to cook, even if its just for yourself. Today I made myself a beautiful loaf of bread to eat for my breakfast in the morning and share with my housemate. I always fall a little bit in love with the process of watching it rise and grow into something truly beautiful.

This olive bread recipe Im giving you today is quite stunning. I was so very pleased with the way it turned out and its pretty simple to make. I know some people find bread making intimidating, but really its not. The main thing is to make sure you have plenty of time. I usually make bread when I know I'll be home all day, that way if it takes longer to rise then I expected, it doesn't matter. Don't rush the bread. Just let it do it thing. Remember that yeast is a living organism and be prepared to let it do its thing....however fast of slow it may decide to be that day.

 Olive and Rosemary Bread

You will need:

• 600g of strong (or bakers) flour
• 400g of wholemeal flour
• Big splash of olive oil
• 7g dried yeast
• 1tsp of honey
• 625ml of warm water (not hot) 
• Large pinch of salt
• Cracked pepper to taste
• 3 tbs of dried rosemary
• 1 large handful of pitted olives that have been cut up. 
• Semolina for dusting.

What to do:

• Mix together yeast, half the water and honey. Set aside until it has bubbled.
• In a separate bowl mix together flour, salt, olives, pepper and rosemary. Make a well in the middle of the mixture and add oil, yeast mix and the remaining oil. 
• Mix together until a dough forms and then place on a floured bench. 
• Knead the dough for 10 to 15 minutes. This is really good for your arms (builds great muscles) and my favourite time to think.
• Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Place in a warm spot and allow to rise until doubled in size. 
• Knock back the dough and then shape into whatever shape you want the bread to be. I usually make a large oval shape. Place loaf onto a large tray dusted with semolina.
• Allow the loaf to rise once more until it is doubled in size.
• While it is rising preheat your oven to its highest temperature with a flat tray inside. 
• Once your bread is all lovely and big, very very gently transfer the loaf onto the hot tray and slash it with a knife a few times across the top to make 3 or 4 deep incisions. This helps the loaf to cook evenly, but also just looks damn pretty.
• Place the loaf in the oven (do this so carefully so as to not knock any air out of the bread) and spray the oven with some water. This is actually a really crucial step that a lot of home bread makers don't know to do. It gives the yeast the perfect environment to grow one last time (and make your bread really big) before it dies off. The best way to do this is with a little spray bottle but as I dont have one, I usually just throw 1/4 cup of water into the bottom of my oven to create the steam. This of course isn't practical if you have a gas oven! The spray bottle is probably the safest option. 
• Spray the oven 3 times within the first ten minutes of cooking and then turn the heat back down to 190 degrees. 
• Cook the bread for around 34 to 40
  
  
  
  
  
  minutes. To be honest I cant really give you a time as it all depends on your oven and how large the loaf grew and what not. You can check to see if its ready though because the bread will have a lovely golden crust and when you pick it up, and top on its bace it will sound hollow.