A cold and dreary Sunday afternoon ....

my answer is to cook. I had to make cabbage rolls for a couple of clients .... so I made cabbage rolls- 35 lbs of them. Anyone want some? Besides that I did up a batch of Fougasse - an olive and herb bread. Nice stuff.

2 tsp dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup warm water

dissolve yeast and sugar in water and set aside to bubble.

4 cups strong white flour
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup warm water
2tsp salt

mix flour and  salt together and then mix in the remaining ingredients including yeast to form a ball. Kneed for 10 min or until smooth and elastic ( I do this in my mixer - takes about 4-5 min.) then place in a greased bowl. Cover and let stand in a warm place until doubled in volume ( about 1 hour)

Punch down and mix in 1 cup chopped black olives and a handful of herbs ( basil, parsley, thyme etc what ever you have) kneed for about 5 min.  divide dough into 4 equal pieces and form into small oval loaves about 3/4 of an inch thick. Score the top and cover and let rise another 20 min. or so.

Bake in 410 degree oven for about 35 min ( until crisp)  To make a crispy crust spray the inside of the oven with water about 15 min into baking time.

Fresh from the oven ..... good stuff