Sunday, February 8, 2009

{Adventures in Yeast} #3 - KA Blitz Bread

In my recent quest to bake with yeast, I've been buoyed up by my experience with King Arthur's English Muffin bread, which I've made at least a dozen times. All of my loaves have risen nicely - except the batch where I actually forgot to add the yeast. Yeah.

I've been having a great time reading bread books and yeast recipes. It's a very deep rabbit hole indeed! I'm trying to start with baby steps (the Stollen was a pretty big - and not totally successful - stride).

For my third yeast experiment, I went with another King Arthur bread variety - no knead, start to finish in under 2 hours! It's a focaccia-mimic and it is as tasty as it is easy. King Arthur calls it "Blitz Bread" (recipe here, blog post with step-by-step photos here). The nice thing about this recipe is that you can season it to suit your mood, or your menu.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- As advertised, this is bread comes together very easily.

- I did not use (do not own) the optional pizza dough flavor or the optional cheese powder.

- I wanted to get a good first taste of the base bread, so I sprinkled a few basic herbs very sparingly. I was not particularly sparing with the olive oil, which pretty much coats the dough as the bread cooks.

the verdict:

This bread was fragrant and tasty. We ate it warm from the oven as an accompaniment to dinner. The best part was the olive oil- soaked bottom crust.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree - lots of olive oil is the way to go with focaccia and pizza.

Audrey said...

I saw this recipe too and I'm glad to know you liked it. Good for you for getting into yeast! The bread looks great - before, during and after. Gorgeous texture! I just saw that there's a new book coming out soon called "Kneadlessly Simple" which seems to have a lot of recipes like this. It's by Nancy Baggett, who has also written some great baking books. I'm going to check it out!

Jules Someone said...

I've made this a few times. It's always delicious.

Megan said...

That looks like a wonderful focaccia - suitable for a myriad of toppings. I'm marking this one for sure!

Anonymous said...

Yum! Olive oil soaked crust is always good. I'm glad Adventure #3 was a success!

Melissa said...

Oh my goodness, the olive oil soaked crust sounds so delicious. I admire how you're venturing into the world of yeast - I need to get better at it myself!

Cathy said...

This looks fantastic -- the perfect foccacia. I'm definitely eager to try this one!

Di said...

I really need to make this recipe again. I think I didn't use enough oil in the pan when I made it, plus I added cheese and it caused the bread to stick to the pan. Yours looks terrific.

Jessica said...

Hmm, that bread looks yummy -- I have to try it soon. I'm always interested in breads that are easy to get together.
I just ordered some goodies from KA the other day as a reward for myself (although, I did stay away from the butter rum extract per your experience with it in the pear tart!) and I'm excited to get going on some new breads.

natalia said...

I love your focaccia !!!In few weeks you'll be a master bread baker !!!

Anonymous said...

I have to try that recipe ...and yes I have "someone" to get rid of the crumbs :)

The Blonde Duck said...

I love olive oil and bread! Perfect combination! I always tend to oversoak it though. :)

I moved to a new site! Check it out: www.aduckinherpond.com.

Maria said...

I have been wanting to try this bread! Glad you did a review for me. It looks great!!

Ruby Isabella said...

Suddenly, I'm very hungry!

dharmagirl said...

oh yum. i'd love a wedge of this right now...congrats on your latest yeast adventure!