Sublime Garlic Bread

This recipe belongs in the bread section, but it makes such a tantalizing appetizer that it's going to get an extra entry.

Basic ingredients:

1 tablespoon yeast in ¼ cup warm water with a tablespoon sugar in a glass container or bowl.

2 cups water

6 - 7 cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons salt

Extras:

½ cup flax meal

1/3 cup melted butter

4 cloves garlic mashed in a garlic press; discard the parts that won’t go through the press

¼ cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon dry dill weed

Directions:

1. Assemble your yeast mix and set in a warm oven for about 15 minutes.

     2. Warm means you should be able to touch any part of the oven without burning yourself. If the oven is too hot, bye-bye yeast spores:)

     3.  All of the extra ingredients are optional, but the thing that makes this bread sublime is the garlic. So if you don’t have or don’t want the other stuff, no worries. 

3    4. When the yeast has bubbled for at least 15 minutes it should have nearly filled the container. Pour the yeast mix into a glass mixing bowl and add everything else you want to use – except the flour.

    5. Begin adding the flour, 2 cups at a time. When you have mixed in 4 or 5 cups start adding a little more slowly. When you have dough that you can turn out onto a pastry cloth or floured surface, you are ready to knead. It’s OK if it’s a little sticky, you can add more flour while you knead. 

    6. When you have kneaded enough to have a smooth, round ball of dough, rub a small amount of olive oil or melted butter on the surface of the dough, and place it in a sizable glass bowl and cover with a light cloth. Place in a warm oven.(See above) It will take from 1 – 2 hours for the dough to double in size. 

    7. When it is double in size, turn it out on the floured surface and knead it until it is nearly back to the original size.  You can make the loaves into any size or shape you like. You could make four long baguette shapes and put 2 each on cookie sheets. You can make two round loaves and bake them on pizza stones. Or you can use loaf pans.  The bread is going to double in size, so keep that in mind. Cover the shapes with a light cloth and return to the warm oven for the final rising.* This will take from 1 – 2 hours.

    8. When the dough has doubled, gently remove the pans from the warm oven and set them on the counter while you preheat the oven to 350.

.    9. Bake the loaves 1 at a time on the middle rack for 20 minutes. When the 20 minutes are up, tap the top of the loaves lightly with a knife to see if you hear a hollow sound. That sound is a good indicator the bread is baked through. A thud would mean a couple more minutes. 

     10. When the bread is done, wait as long as you can stand it, then cut and spread with a generous amount of butter. About 20 minutes is a good rule of thumb for when it is ready to cut. Before that, it is a little too soft. 
    
     * At this stage, (before the second rise, but after you have shaped the loaves) you can take all or some of the loaves and freeze them to bake at a later time. When you are ready to bake, remove them from the freezer and let them thaw and rise, then bake. Allow at least three hours for this.

   The longer the shelf life of what you are eating, the shorter yours will be.
   Alexander Junger