Tuesday, July 17, 2012

TWD: [Tomato Basil] Semolina Bread

Baking with Julia
by Dorie Greenspan
Recipe contributed by Nick Malgieri


                                     Tomato Basil Semolina Bread

I was hesitant to make this not only because it had been too warm to turn on the oven, but the six hours of rise time in two hour increments meant I would have to stay home literally all day. I lucked out: the day before this post was due the weather turned cooler and I had nothing planned other than getting some things done around the house.

My daughter and I had lunch the other day at Panera; I love their tomato basil bread they use for sandwiches. As I was devouring my Mediterranean veggie sandwich, I thought I should try and recreate the bread at home one day. Well, today was the day. I stepped out of my box and decided to add these flavors (found here) to the semolina bread.

The dough seemed rather wet even after adding the recommended amount of flour in the recipe. I'm sure it had extra moisture due to the add-ins I used. I did not want to use too much flour so I worked with the moist dough and without any problem.

The formed loaf looked beautiful. Once covered and left to rise for the last time I came back to find it pretty flattened so I skipped the slashing of the dough. I think the last rise should be done in a bread mold or sling like I did here or maybe I made it too long. The instructions say to make a "plump" loaf which I felt I did, but perhaps it meant to make a shorter "squat" shaped loaf.  Removing the loaf from the oven the bread felt rather hard and I was worried this was going to be another dud; however, after cooling, it softened up nicely and I think this will make for good sandwich bread.

We thought this bread had good flavor, though a bit on the salty side. I would reduce the salt by at least 1/2 teaspoon if not by half.

Success meter (1-3): 3


The sponge.

The sponge after a two hour rest.

Photo credit: Ash
Pecorino-Romano, basil, and sun dried tomatoes.

Ashley's idea to add the sun-dried tomatoes
in addition to the sun-dried tomato paste.
Good call Ash!



First rise done.

Photo credit: Ash
Now to shape the loaf.

Photo credit: Ash

Photo credit: Ash

Photo credit: Ash

Photo credit: Ash
Beautifully shaped loaf if I do say so myself.

Ready for the 2nd rise.

Hmmm..

..lost its beautiful form.



I had hoped it would regain some of its
rise during cooking - didn't happen.




Our hosts for this week are Anna of Keep it Luce and Renee of The Way to My Family’s Heart, you can find the original recipe on their blogs. And remember to visit all the other Tuesdays with Dorie baker's sites for their take in this bread; there are always interesting variations you wouldn't want to miss out on.

30 comments:

  1. Very lovely!
    I thought this dough was a bit slack, but it had excellent oven spring. I slashed, but my slashes weren't executed very well :-)

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  2. Cathleen, delicious additions to your bread - it looks wonderful to me although when I baked the bread, I must admit to having a little bit of an issue with the bread being a bit "flat" as well.

    Have a wonderful week!

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  3. Great pictures Cathleen, and isn´t that color awesome? It turned out really well and the additions work perfectly with the semolina.

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  4. Yum. What a great idea! Looks delicious.

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  5. Great idea for flavoring this bread! Where did you find the Sun Dried Tomato paste ... I have got to get some! Thanks for sharing. Catherine www.praycookblog.com

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    1. Catherine, I bought it at Safeway. Lunardi's and Nob Hill/Raley's has it also I believe.

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  6. Your add-ins win! They are my favorite flavors and I have everything in the house to make another loaf. Thank you, thank you. This is why I love BWJ/TWD I get to meet so many 'think outside the box bakers'. I love it. Have a great day.

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  7. Your loaf is so colorful. I'm glad it turned out well; I'm a little late this week, but I'll be posting tomorow.

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  8. Love the addition of tomato and basil to the recipe. Your loaf is really colourful!

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  9. That's so creative! I love it!

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  10. So beautiful and finally a positive result? Tell me it was delicious.
    Your loving sister.

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  11. Wow, looking forward to trying your version!

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  12. Cathleen, I am totally, totally, (three more totally's) impressed with your bread. I love your additives and, since I am planning to make this bread again, I am going to march right in step with you. Must try this. Mine didn't rise as high as I wished but I thought it was because I slashed one "rising" too early. I made this first loaf with my mixer. Nexrt week, when I make your loaf, I am going to try it with my food processor. Don't know if it will make a difference.

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  13. Looks and sounds delicious. Love your add ins!

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  14. Wow that flavor combination sounds amazing!

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  15. Wow it looks very impressive. Good idea.

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  16. I adore the look of your savoury loaf - so pretty and delicious!

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  17. This looks perfect! I have only just started trying to make bread, but I love it. It's definitely worth the effort. Yours looks way better than anything I have ever made, this is what I aspire to ;)

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  18. Your additions are inspirational! You have inspired me to try this recipe again.

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  19. Your add-ins look and sound so tasty, great idea..

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  20. This is stunning! I love the idea of the adding the extras in. My daughter's favorite sandwhich from Panera is also the Mediterranean Veggie. I will make sure I show her this recipe and I am sure we will try it. It is also great that you have a photographer! She takes great photos!

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  21. Love the add-ins; a great way to spice up this recipe!

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  22. Such wonderful tweaks! I love the additional color from the sun-dried tomatoes!! Beautiful~

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  23. I think the rise times were a bit too long for the amount of yeast the recipe called for, especially if your dough mixed up wet (it seemed like most of them did) and with the warm temperatures for most of us. you made a beautiful loaf with cheese, basil and sun dried tomato. It probably inspired more than one of us to try the recipe again!

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  24. i love to try the beautiful loaf. yummy!

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  25. that is a wonderful loaf of bread.
    Lisa

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  26. Lovely!!! I should have made it....

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  27. That sounds so good! The paste must have given it an extra pow.
    I have to say, I wasn't happy how mine looked after the 2nd rise either. It was so nice and plump before that! :(

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  28. I am sure your bread tasted much better than the Panera bread you are mentioning! You are showing beautifully how versatile this recipe is.

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  29. Your bread looks wonderful! What a great idea to add the tomato and basil, I bet it tasted really good!

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