Rustic Rosemary Bread

My webmaster's sister, Jocelyn gave me this recipe last summer. The first time I made it, I was not impressed. Hmpffff, Jocelyn's posted pictures depicted her bread as lovely and tasty. Hmpfff. So I tried the recipe again. It was wonderful! A no-knead bread, that makes TWO loaves, with VERY little mess. WOWZACOWZA! I added a little sprinkle of salt, cornmeal, and extra rosemary to the crust before baking...which I think sends it over the top. Remember that no-knead breads don't rise as much as regular bread...but rise a bit more than a foccacia. You're going to love this...

Rustic Rosemary Bread

Start 2 1/2 hours ahead to allow for two rises

2 1/2 tsp. dry yeast (or 1 pkt)
2 c. warm water (about 115 degrees)
1 T. sugar
2 tsp salt
4 c. flour
1-2 tsp. fresh rosemary plus more for topping (or 1 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed)
olive oil, corn meal, melted butter and Kosher salt

Dissolve yeast in the warm (about 115 degrees) water and sugar. Add flour, salt, and 1-2 tsp rosemary and stir until blended, do not knead! Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until double in size. Remove dough from bowl, it will be sticky, and shape into two rounds and place on a cookie sheet lightly coated in oil and sprinkled with corn meal (don't skip the corn meal, it gives the loaves a lot of character). Make your rounds tall-ish rather than round-ish (think "cupcake shape"!). Cover rounds with a towel or greased plastic wrap and let rise another hour. Brush each round with melted butter and lightly sprinkle with more rosemary, a bit of cornmeal, and Kosher salt (Yes, sprinkle the top and sides of the dough with salt-YUM). Bake @ 425 for 10 minutes, then reduce temp to 375 for 15 minutes more.

Thank you for being a fan,
Polly (with a special bow to Jocelyn McSpadden)