Olive Bread

The last Saturday in February found me listening me to an obscure album by a legendary artist. The album was "Some Time in New York City" the artist was John Lennon. Although not on a par with his greatest records the album does contain some excellent live jams, as well as some poor ones, including some with a real hero of mine- the late, great Frank Zappa. There are also some great studio songs including the rolling, bluesy "John Sinclair" and raw blast of rock 'n' roll that is "New York City".

During his break from music in the mid to late seventies Lennon took up the hobby of baking bread among other things. I decided to follow his lead as a distraction from the fact that I had suddenly been forced to step back and watch the wheels.

I set out to make a wholemeal bread filled with Olives. The ingredients were as follows:

20 ounces Wholemeal Bread Flour.
Two teaspoonfuls of Dried Yeast.
One teaspoon of dried Rosemary.
One teaspoon dried Thyme.
Three tablespoons of Almond Milk.
Ten ounces of Green Olives.

The method was as follows:

1. Still together all the dry ingredients and Olives in a mixing bowl.
2. Gradually stir in the milk.
3. Once everything is bound together knead the ingredients into a flat but thick circle.
4. Leave in a warm place, such as a south-facing window sill, to rise for one hour.
5. Coat the bread in Olive Oil
6. Bake the bread in the oven for 20 minutes on Gas Mark 6.

The bread was soft with some crunch to it while the Olives, Thyme and Rosemary meant the taste took me back to times when I holidayed below the Olive Line in the southern part of Mediterranean Europe.

Almost gone- a small piece of the crisp yet spongy bread with a Green Olive poking out of it.