rosemary italian bread

the winter break was over and school was back in session. my schedule inevitably became more insane, leaving little time in the day for bread making and picture taking. don't' fret, i still worked up five or six loaves in that time, but photos were just not happening.

today, though, I was able to make a loaf for dinner at a friend's home this evening. I'm hoping for a delicious bread to take over to enjoy with home made pasta. we spiced up a rather simple recipe with some garlic and rosemary.

we are hoping it doesn't suck.

The recipe was adapted from Food.com

Ingredients


1 cup water, warmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 whole egg whites
2 tablespoons cornmeal

Directions

• Add into bread machine container, warmed water, olive oil, sugar, yeast. Let yeast foam a bit.
• Dump in flour (start with 2 1/2 cups); add salt on top of flour. 
• When the machine beeps to "Add", I added a tbsp rosemary and garlic. I really wanted a garlic flavor, but was out of fresh garlic. Powder it was.
• Turn on bread machine to dough setting. Watch for the first bit and add flour as needed to get a good dough. (elastic and not sticky).
• Get cookie sheet ready by lightly oiling with olive oil and sprinkle on cornmeal.
• Form dough into loaf and set on cookie sheet with tea towel to cover until doubled in size.
• Preheat oven to 375*F.
• Cut slits diagonally in loaf with sharp knife. Brush with egg white.
• Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and when you knock the bottom of bread it sounds hollow.

One thing I did before baking was sprinkle flour over the rosemary on top. I read that it will keep it from burning. I also don't have a brush yet, so I had to spoon egg white on to the bread. It came out a bit uneven. I cooked for the full 25 minutes. It smells divine. Taste is yet to be determined....I'll let you know after we cut it at dinner.