Helen Oless's Prosciutto and Olive Braid

Name: Helen Oless's Prosciutto and Olive Braid
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; ¼ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground; 1 ¼ cups hot (about 110 degrees) tap water; 1 tablespoon dry yeast; 1 ½ teaspoons sugar; 2 cups all-purpose flour; ¼ cup vegetable shortening (at room temperature); 1 ½ dozen Greek olives, chopped; 3 cups bread flour (approximately)

By Bryan Miller

Published June 14, 1983

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

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
¼ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
1 ¼ cups hot (about 110 degrees) tap water
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup vegetable shortening (at room temperature)
1 ½ dozen Greek olives, chopped
3 cups bread flour (approximately)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Sprinkle baking sheet, approximately 9 ½ by 11 inches, with cornmeal and set aside.
Step 2
Saute prosciutto in 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium heat for 1 ½ 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.