Olive oil bread + "The Hunger Games"

I asked for your thoughts on “The Hunger Games” trilogy a couple of months ago and today I want to tell you that I’m hooked on the books! By some of my readers’ suggestion I started with “The Hunger Games” even though I’d watched the movie and I really liked the book – my love for the movie got even bigger. Last night I started reading “Catching Fire” and the only reason I’ve put the book aside is because I have to work. :D Suzanne Collins has hypnotized me pretty much like Stieg Larsson did last year.

Great suggestions are always welcome and that is why I made this bread a couple of weeks ago: my dear friend Ana Elisa had told me that it was a very easy recipe that yielded delicious bread and after having a slice of it at her house I had to make it too; it was hard not to eat both loaves in a couple of hours, I’ll tell you that much. :)

Olive oil bread
from the beautiful Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes

5g dried yeast (or 14g fresh yeast)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 cup (240ml) lukewarm water
2 ½ cups (350g) all purpose flour, more if needed
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¾ cup chopped green olives

Put the yeast in a large bowl with the olive oil, sugar and water and mix together with a fork. Let sit for about 5 minutes or until foamy.
Add the flour and salt and mix until it comes together. Turn onto a clean surface and knead for about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic – I used the Kitchen Aid mixer for that.
Lightly oil the bowl and place the dough back in it, cover with plastic wrap and place in a draft-free warm place until dough doubles in volume, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
Punch down the dough and divide it in half. Add the half the olives to each dough portion and then work the dough to form a baguette-like shaped loaf. Transfer the loaves to a large baking sheet lined with foil. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place for 20-30 minutes.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F.
Bake the loaves for 30 minutes or so or until golden and the bottom of the loaves sounds hollow when you knock on it.

Makes 2 loaves