You need some Brains for Bread

Finally, a cooking post after almost a year of grumbling and mumbling about work!

First of all, let me say something - it's the oven's fault.

Sigh. What went wrong?

Reminder to self - I need an oven thermometer. Fresh yeast. Half a brain.

Here is my lousy version of the olive oil No-Knead bread, much better versions found here and here.

Is it because (and here is why, looking back, I said half a brain) I:

- Piled the toppings on the dough like a pizza but baked in at a lower temperature?

- ignored the instructions to "Stretch surface of dough on each side and tuck under, creating a round, ball with a taut surface. Flatten dough ball a little. Keep the dough covered until ready to use." I kinda just spooned out the dough from bowl to tray and used the back of a spoon to smooth it out, like cake batter *blush*

- left the dough out only for one hour when the recipe said two?

- really messed up the water measurements (1 cup = 16 tablespoons, 3/4 cup does NOT equal 3 tablespoons)?

But I really, really believe, that it was the oven that did me in. You see, like so many of you, I have an oven which lies to me...(highly suspects that the 200 degC on the oven dial wasn't really 200 degC)

Sigh. Where can one get an oven thermometer in Miri?

Note:

I really like the toppings though. I roasted five whole unpeeled cloves of garlic in butter with some rosemary (yeah baby, I actually used the dried rosemary I brought all the way back from Penang - finally! It came out smelling a bit like toothpaste but the when spread on the bread and went really well with the ham) in foil parcels. I then mashed the soft roasted garlic with the melted butter and spread this on top of my bread. In the middle of the sheet of dough I made a little indentation with my oiled tablespoon and cracked an egg into that. Studded the loaf with chicken loaf and sprinkled the whole lot with dried parsley.

So I would do this again (heh, not that I have a choice, I still have 3 batches of dough in the fridge to play with). Maybe with the same ingredients but as a stuffing like this lady did?

Wish me luck..!