3 Strips Bacon; drained and
-coarsely chopped
-NOTE: reserve drippings
1 md Onion; peeled, halved and
-sliced 1/8″ thick
2 tb Olive Oil
4 Garlic Cloves chopped ormore
1 ts Salt
1 ts Black Pepper;coarsely ground
3 Roasted Red Peppers; seenote
1/2 c Nicoise Olives, halved,pittd
2 tb Rosemary; fresh, chopped
4 1/2 c Bread Flour; divided
2 pk Active Dry Yeast
2 Eggs; beaten
1 c Parmesan Cheese; grate fresh
1 c Water; heat to 120F degrees
GLAZE ETC
1 tb Cornmeal; for cookie sheet
2 tb Butter; melted
: Seenote; lightly spray a ripe red pepper with release spray
and rub it around with your finger to coat the entire surface. Roast
the pepper directly in the flames of a gas stove, turning them with
tongs until the entire outside of the pepper is blackened. You do not
want to cook the peppers too much so do this as quickly as your range
will allow. You can also do this under a broiler, on the grill or
with any type of blowtorch, but my range is more handy..
: In a large frying pan or skillet, cook the bacon over medium
heat until browned and crispy. Remove the bacon, drain on paper
towels and coarsely chop. Set aside. Add the onion to the reserved
bacon drippings along with the olive oil. Stir to coat the onions
evenly with the oil. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally,
until the onions are a golden brown, about 20 minutes. NOTE: in this
prior step it is important that the onions get browned and that most
to all of the liquid is fryed out.
Add the garlic and cook for 5 minutes more. Stir in the salt, pepper,
roasted red peppers, black olives and chopped rosemary. Stir in the
crumbled bacon. Set aside.
In the work bowl of a food processor, using the plastic dough blade,
combine 3 1/2 cups of flour and the sauteed onion/red pepper mixture.
Add the yeast, eggs and the parmesan cheese and combine thoroughly.
With the machine still running, add the water slowly until the
mixture begins to pull together and forms a ball. Note: that is
“begins to pull together”, this will not be a rounded ball of dough.
If the dough is too sticky, add the remaining flour 1/4 cup at a
time. Process until the dough cleans the sides of the work bowl, then
knead for approximately 1 minute longer. The dough should be smooth
and elastic and bounce back when pressed with your finger. Place the
dough into a lightly oiled freezer type plastic bag, and put in a
warm place to double in volume, about 1 hour.(1 gallon bag for each
loaf, freeze one, and continue with the other.) Remove the dough from
bag and punch down, shape the dough into two oblong loaves, and place
on a lightly greased baking sheet that has been dusted with the
cornmeal. Make 3 or 4 decorative slashes in the top of the bread and
brush with the melted butter. Allow to rise again, in a warm, draft
free area until doubled, about 45 minutes. Place the dough into a
preheated 375F degree oven and cook for 35-45 minutes or until the
bread is golden and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped with your
finger. Place the bread directly on a wire rack to cool. This bread
freezes well for 2-3 months if tightly wrapped. To serve, defrost
overnight in the foil. To warm, place the thawed bread, still wrapped
in foil in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. If reheated in this
manner, the bread will retain its freshly baked qualities.
Yields
2 Loaves