Roasted-Garlic Rosemary Rye With Olives - Scrumptious Sourdough

It's time for another amazing artisan bread!  I remember eating at a delightful Italian restaurant in Michigan where we were served fresh warm bread with a dipping sauce made of olive oil infused with garlic and spices.  Mmm...that was delicious!  I've been thinking for some time about making a sourdough bread the incorporates all of those flavors.  Most of my breads have been wheat-based, so I've also been interested in branching out into other grains.  These two independent tracks of my curiosity conflated the other day into a sourdough rye bread filled with, rosemary, roasted garlic, and black olives.  The result was a dense, rich, mediterranean flavor that made some amazing sandwiches.  We've been feasting on this sumptuous loaf ever since.

Rye, a grain that is better suited to cold northern climates, has been a staple grain in the areas now covered by countries like Germany, Austria, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Slovakia, and Russia since the stone age.  Dark rye bread became a staple of the region where it is still the most popular type of bread.  Many different types of rye grain have come from places all over  northern Europe.  In 500 AD., the Saxons and Danes settled in Britain and introduced rye.  Rye was brought to America by the northern European immigrants and rye bread is still enjoyed today by many artisan bread aficionados for its hearty and flavorful crumb.

Rye bread contains a large amount of fiber, only a little fat, and is filled with complex carbohydrates which have a slow energy burn rather than the high spikes in blood sugar that white bread gives you.

Just a few reminders about sourdough starters:

Before you begin:

• Sourdough starter - Get some from a friend who makes sourdough, start it from scratch, or buy a starter.   I got my starter on e-Bay, though it takes several days to get it going before you can make bread--it's a bit of a pain but it's a great resource once you get a jar of starter in your fridge.

Preparing the starter:

• In a ceramic or glass bowl mix together one cup of white flour and one cup of water
• Add your starter and stir it all well (it separates in the fridge--the liquid part was called "hootch" and sometimes drunk by the old-time gold prospectors who kept their sourdough warm in a pouch strapped to their bodies and used it to make many different meals)
• Cover with plastic wrap and leave it on the counter to grow
• After about 6 hours the mixture should be bubbling and smell "sour"
• Add another cup of white flour and another cup of water and mix it all up, cover, and leave overnight
• Next morning stir the mixture, pour as much starter as you began with back into you refrigerator jar and put it in the fridge for next time

Here's how to make Roasted Garlic Rosemary Rye & Olive Sourdough Bread:

 

• 1 cup Sourdough Starter
• 1.5 cups Water - lukewarm
• 1 Tbsp Salt
• 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/4 cup Gluten (this is critical to make whole grain lighter)
• 4 cups Whole Rye Flour
• 2 Tbsp Rosemary - dried
• 1 bulb Roasted Garlic
• 1 cup Olives - sliced

Put rosemary in a cup and add just enough water to cover the it.  Heat in the microwave for one minute, then cover with plastic wrap to let it steep and reconstitute.  Mix together sourdough starter, water, and salt in a mixing bowl.  Stir in whole wheat flour and gluten.  Stir in the rye flour and mix until well incorporated.  Leave in the bowl, spray the ball of dough with oil spray and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise until doubled.  Add in the olives, the rosemary, and the garlic, and knead together until well incorporated.  Line a dutch oven with parchment and place the ball of dough in it.  Let it raise in a warm oven until doubled in size.  With the lid on the dutch oven bake at 450 degrees fahrenheit for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for another 10 minutes to brown the crust.

Slice thinly.  This bread is dense and savory.  Serve fresh with butter or hummus, or make superb sandwiches.