Ingredients:
2 Cups of Flour (I use half white and half whole wheat. It makes my girlfriend feel a little better about what I make.)
1/2 Tablespoon of Sugar
1/2 Tablespoon of Salt
2 Clove of Garlic
1 Tablespoon Thyme Leaves
1 Tablespoon Oregano
1 Cup of Warm Water
1/2 Tablespoon Yeast
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
1. Preheat your oven to 150° F or 75° C
2. Combine Flour, Sugar, Salt, Garlic, Thyme Leaves and Oregano into a large mixing bowl.
3. Fill up your measuring cup with 1 Cup of warm Water. I usually let the faucet run for a bit to warm up the water. It should be comfortable, not scalding. Too hot of water will kill the yeast. That's bad.
4. Stir the yeast into the warm Water until it is smoothly mixed together. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
5. While letting the Yeast mixture sit, put 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil into the dry mixture.
6. After the Yeast mixture has reached its desired consistency, pour it into the dry mixture and mix it smoothly together.
7. Ball it up in the mixing bowl.
8. Stick it into the oven. This is going to act as our Bread Machine. This will stoke the Yeast and get the bread to rise.
9. Wait one hour. Clean up your mess. Wash your hands. Wipe down the counter and then sprinkle some flour on it.
10. After an hour, the bread will be nicely risen. You can poke it and watch it deflate. Take it out and set the oven to 350° F or 175° C.
11. Pour the bread mixture onto your floured counter. Sprinkle some more flour onto the top of it.
12. Start kneading the bread. The best way to describe the process would be alternating between squeezing and flattening it out. Do this for about 5-10 minutes. Or until you get bored.
13. Ball up your dough and stick it on your baking pan. I liked to ball it up and then pull the sides down under the ball so the top is nice and smooth. I have also found that a pan with some holes in the bottom can help cook it better. I usually have to take it out of the pan and stick it bare assed onto the rack for a finisher.
14. Sprinkle some Thyme leaves on top. Score the top (means put an X on the top). Its all about presentation. You want it to look pretty. If she hesitates eating your food, she will hesitate in bed too....
15. Let it sit out on the counter for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. This will let the bread rise a second time.
16. After the bread has risen again (Jesus is coming, look busy!) Stick it in the oven.
17. Check it after about 20 minutes. You can stick a fork or toothpick in it to check for doneness. You might even want to rotate it a bit.
18. Take a deep breath. Doesn't that smell good?
19. After another 20 minutes check the bread again. It should be done. You can do anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending on your oven. Your fork/toothpick/finger should be dry. If it comes away moist, the bread is not yet done.
20. Once it is done, pull it out and wrap it in a towel. Let it sit for 30 minutes. If you try to cut it when its too warm, it will break apart.
21. Cut it up into nice slices and serve it with your pasta. She will be so impressed that you made homemade Italian bread that she won't even notice you used canned pasta sauce.
Extra Credit:
Roasted Garlic:
Take a head of Garlic and slice off the first 1/4 inch or so, until the cloves are just exposed. Pour some olive oil into the head and wrap it in foil. Stick it in the oven at 350°F for an hour or two. It should be really soft. You should be able to squeeze it and feel no give. Once its done, grab a butter knife, open it up and spread this on your bread. Its better than butter. Promise.
You can also take out the Thyme, Oregano, Garlic, Olive Oil and substitute Cinnamon, Brown Sugar and Honey and Vegetable Oil. It will give you a nice sweet bread that is great in the morning. She is staying the night right?
