Susan: Holiday Breads - Italian Rosemary Raisin Bread

For more years than I like to admit, we've been slowly but surely working on a large metal building here on the farm that will one day house our wholesale artisan bread bakery and us. Since progress lately has been more along the lines of slowly rather than surely, we finally broke down and admitted to ourselves that this project was never going to be completed unless we hired some outside help. Besides, The Shack is literally falling down around us.

So for the past five weeks, our new contractor and his helper have been hard at work by 7:30 nearly every weekday morning. Great headway is being made, and we're both extremely excited. It looks like 2008 really will be The Year We Move Out Of The Shack. It's like a checkbook-draining dream come true.

Meanwhile I've been learning all kinds of stuff about amps and breaker boxes and electrical outlets, but I'd much rather be baking than taking Wiring 101, especially as I watch our bread bakery finally becoming a reality. It's a proven fact that workers are 50% more productive when they've been well fed (no, really), and our two builders informed me early on that they love baked goods of any sort. When I'm not stuffing them with molasses ginger spice snaps, Mexican monkey cake, or my decidedly different chocolate chip cookies (which they both declared were the best cookies they'd ever eaten), I've been experimenting with new bread recipes, including this one.

Italian Rosemary Raisin Bread (Pane di Ramerino)
Makes 2 small loaves - Adapted slightly from Bread

This is the second recipe I've made from a wonderful, bargain priced book called Bread: Artisan Breads from Baguettes and Bagels to Focaccia and Brioche by authors and cooking instructors Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno (he's French, she's Italian). Pane di Ramerino has been baked daily throughout Tuscany since the early 16th century. As you can see, this is a beautiful bread, and it would not only be perfect to serve to guests, but would also make a lovely gift. Thankfully the recipe makes two small loaves so you can spread the yeasty joy and still have some left for yourself.

I never would have thought to combine raisins and rosemary in bread, but the result is delicious. The flavor of the rosemary is subtle; simply double the amount if you want to taste it more. This is a rich, easy-to-work-with dough made with milk, olive oil (which adds another layer of flavor) and eggs. The texture of the crumb is reminiscent of a cinnamon roll. This bread freezes beautifully and can even be sliced while still frozen.

The authors claim it is a superlative breakfast bread and "quite simply the best accompaniment to fresh goat cheese." My friend Amanda, who writes about Mediterranean food at the glorious Figs Olives Wine, suggested using it to make her cool weather bruschetta with ricotta salata and thyme. I'm thinking it would make extraordinary French toast — perhaps for brunch on New Year's Day.

bread flour 3-3/4 cups 1 lb 2-3/4 oz 533 g (plus a little more while kneading)
instant yeast 2 teaspoons
warm milk 1/2 cup 4 ounces
chopped fresh rosemary 1 Tablespoon
raisins 1-1/2 packed cups 4-1/2 oz 127 g
olive oil 4 Tablespoons
4 eggs, beaten
salt 1-1/2 teaspoons

1. Mix the flour and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add the milk, rosemary, raisins, olive oil, and eggs. Mix to form a soft, sticky dough, adding extra flour, 1 Tablespoon at a time, if the dough is too moist.

2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead 6 minutes. Cover the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes.

3. Knead in the salt, and continue kneading until the dough is silky, springy, and elastic, about 5 to 8 minutes.

4. Put the dough in a plastic lidded container (or in a large bowl covered with a damp tea towel) and let it rise until double in size, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

5. Divide the dough into two pieces. Shape each into a round loaf and place on a well floured couche or work counter. If you won't be using a baking stone, place the rounds on a parchment-lined heavy baking sheet. Dust tops of loaves with flour and cover with a damp tea towel. Heat oven and baking stone to 400 degrees. Proof loaves until doubled in size, about 1 hour. (Note: the book says that the loaves will spread and look slightly flat after rising, but will rise up dramatically during the initial stages of baking. Mine didn't flatten out, but my dough was on the dense side.)

6. Cut a slash, 1/2 inch deep, across the top of the loaf, then another in the opposite direction to make an "X."

7. Bake in the preheated oven (directly on the baking stone if you have one) until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped underneath, about 30 minutes with a baking stone and 45 minutes without. Cool on a wire rack.

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