Wild Mushroom Herb Bread
One of my favourite things is freshly made bread. I enjoy making it, and eating it even more. While I have my own standard everyday bread and bun recipe that I throw together regularly, a little trip to Banff, AB inspired me to make Wild Mushroom Herb Bread. Subtle mushroom flavour accented by a speckle of fresh herbs is what makes it interesting and delicious. A medium dense bread with a soft texture makes it great with chicken salad, eggs or cheese.
The road that lead to this bread began with my anniversary weekend to Banff, AB back in January. Nestled among the main street shops I encountered “evoolution”, a wonderful place filled with flavour infused olive oils and balsamic vinegars. I was truly in my glory, sampling a vast array of flavour combinations. When I stepped into the store I knew instantly that it was not a question of becoming a customer but rather how much I was going to purchase. It was quite difficult to narrow it down to the 6 pack that I bought as the choices were plenty. They also had a nice selection of salts, rubs and spices, again making it hard to pick only a couple. Now, some of you who live in larger cities may be thinking “what’s the big deal” it’s an olive oil tasting bar, but I had never seen nor been to one and the experience of being able to taste each and every one was awesome. You can check them out at www.evoolution.ca .
Among my little bundle of goodies purchased was wild mushroom and sage olive oil, which lead me to purchase an obscene jumbo size container of dried wild mushrooms from Costco. I then set to work on a little something delicious like this Wild Mushroom Herb Bread. Enjoy!
Recipe Source: Compelled To Cook
- 1 ounce dried wild mushrooms
- 2 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp Wild Mushroom and Sage olive oil plus more for bowl, see note
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh herbs I used parsley and sage
- Rinse mushrooms well with warm water. Submerge and soak mushrooms in 1 1/4 cups boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid for recipe and mushrooms for another use. You should be left with a generous cup of liquid. Allow to cool to 100℉-110℉.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine mushroom liquid not warmer than 110℉, yeast and sugar. Allow to ferment for 5-7 minutes. Stir in 1 cup of flour, olive oil, herbs and salt. Knead dough adding more flour by the 1/4 cup until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and is soft and smooth without being sticky. Turn dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise until double in size. About 60 minutes
- Preheat oven to 400℉ and place a baking stone in the centre of the oven. Place a piece of parchment large enough for the cooked bread boule onto a flat surface with no edges like a turned over baking sheet or a bread peel if you have one. Knead dough gently to deflate to remove any air bubbles. Form into a round loaf and place on parchment. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel or greased plastic wrap and allow to rise until double in size, about 45-60 minutes.
- Slice top with one long slash along the center using a very sharp knife or bread lame. Spritz with water and slide the parchment paper along with the boule onto preheated baking stone. Bake fore 35 minutes, spritzing again with water half way through baking time. Remove from oven and allow to cool prior to slicing.
Use regular olive oil if mushroom infused is not available.
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