Baking Bread: Sun-dried Tomato & Herb Bread

It’s Sunday morning, and I’m feeling smug as I drizzle newly harvested honey over my freshly baked bread.

Yesterday, as I collected and spun racks laden with honey from our downtown hives, I wandered around the garden and clipped herbs: mint, lemon-balm, parsley, thyme, rosemary, parsley, basil, and sage. While the kitchen filled with the amazing aroma of honey releasing from its wax, I assisted with jar duty, washed and chopped herbs, and prepped for bread-making.

Here’s my recipe for a large loaf, modified from “Fresh Herb Bread”:

Sun-dried Tomato and Herb Bread
Water 1 cup
Egg, extra large 2
Olive oil 3 tablespoons
Honey 4 tablespoons
Sea salt 2 teaspoons
Celery seed 1 teaspoon
Fresh chopped herbs 2/3 cup
Sun-dried tomato (soaked in olive oil or water) 2 tablespoons
Bread flour 4 cups
Dry yeast 2 ¼ teaspoons
Follow basic bread machine directions. I chose “wheat” setting for 4 hours.

Later in the evening, as friends gathered for dinner of grilled tilapia and crowder pea soup, we dipped the bread in hummus, taboli, and yet more honey. And all were happy.

My stand-by source for bread-machine recipes:
Lacalamita, Tom. The All-New Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook. New York: Fireside, 1999. Print.

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