Helen Oless's Prosciutto and Olive Braid

Name: Helen Oless's Prosciutto and Olive Braid
Total time: 2 h 45 min
Yield: 1 large loaf
Cuisine: greek
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon cornmeal for baking sheet; 6 ounces slab prosciutto, finely chopped (least salty variety); 1 teaspoon olive oil; 1 garlic clove, mashed in salt; 2 teaspoons fennel seed, bruised in mortar and pestle; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground; 1 1/4 cups hot (about 110 degrees) tap water; 1 tablespoon dry yeast; 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1/4 cup vegetable shortening (at room temperature); 1 1/2 dozen Greek olives, chopped; 3 cups bread flour (approximately)

By Bryan Miller

Total Time: About 2 hours 45 minutes
Rating: (0)
Comments: Read comments

Helen Oless developed this bread while working as a baker at Bloomingdale's in the early 1980s. Ms. Oless put into practice years of experimentation with flours, yeasts and baking techniques to create delicious country-style brick-oven breads, then the pride of the store's bakeshop. They included rye, whole wheat, white, currant-whole wheat, walnut-whole wheat as well as more exotic combinations such as an aromatic cheddar cheese-caraway and this prosciutto-olive braid.

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Ingredients

Yield:1 large loaf

1tablespoon cornmeal for baking sheet
6ounces slab prosciutto, finely chopped (least salty variety)
1teaspoon olive oil
1garlic clove, mashed in salt
2teaspoons fennel seed, bruised in mortar and pestle
¼teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
1¼cups hot (about 110 degrees) tap water
1tablespoon dry yeast
1½teaspoons sugar
2cups all-purpose flour
¼cup vegetable shortening (at room temperature)
1½dozen Greek olives, chopped
3cups bread flour (approximately)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Sprinkle baking sheet, approximately 9½ by 11 inches, with cornmeal and set aside.
Step 2
Saute prosciutto in 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium heat for 1½ to 2 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in garlic, fennel seed and pepper. Pour contents into large mixing bowl.
Step 3
Add hot water, yeast and sugar.
Step 4
Stir in 1 cup all-purpose flour. Beat in ¼ cup shortening. Add chopped olives.
Step 5
Add 1 more cup of all-purpose flour. Dough will be sticky at this point. Scrape out onto work surface.
Step 6
Gradually knead in 3 cups of bread flour until dough is smooth and elastic.
Step 7
Cover with inverted bowl; rest for 10 minutes.
Step 8
Roll dough into a 10-inch-by-15-inch rectangle. Cut three strips in rectangle, leaving about ½ inch at end uncut. Braid and pinch bottom end.
Step 9
Place on prepared baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm place until light and doubled in volume - about one hour. When doubled, bake in preheated 400-degree oven until hollow sound is heard when loaf is tapped on bottom.