Parmesan Rosemary Artisan Garlic Bread With Sea Salt Rosemary Garlic Butter

  I love the smell of bread baking and of course, the taste is even better. It has been a long time since I have made some homemade bread. My boys went camping this weekend with their dad so I have the whole house to myself. So with all this free time on my hands, I thought it was a perfect time to make some bread. I just love the feel of kneading bread dough, it is so relaxing. Then there is the aroma of the dough rising. Do you like the scent of bread cooking? There is a bread factory a couple miles from my house and when we drive by it, the kids and I always roll down the car windows so we can take in a deep breath of the bread baking.

  Since I decided to make a Rosemary garlic bread, the aroma of my bread baking was very intense. I really enjoyed the aroma of my bread baking, I wish I could bottle it. I do love the way garlic smells. Oh, and it tastes even better. When I bake, I insist on fresh garlic. I buy a huge garlic bulb and use plenty of garlic cloves in my bread. I like to mince the garlic cloves with a garlic press to get the full flavor.

  I use to think that garlic presses were a pain to use as my old one had too many parts and it was difficult to clean. That thinking has changed with my new Garlic Press. I just love how this stainless steel garlic press has no removable pieces that can get lost in the drawer. The included cleaning brush makes cleaning my press so easy. I use this garlic press all the time. I think my favorite feature of the garlic press is the large chamber that allows me to press more than one clove at a time. That was good as my Artisan bread has a lot of garlic in it. I also need some garlic for the sea salt garlic butter that I was making with the bread.

Parmesan Rosemary Artisan Garlic Bread & Sea Salt Rosemary Garlic Butter

3/4 cup warm water (105 F- 115 F)
1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 chopped pitted black olives, sliced
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
4 cloves fresh garlic pressed through garlic press
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
cornmeal
1 egg lightly beaten
2 teaspoons water

Sea Salt Rosemary Garlic Butter
½ cup butter, soften
2 cloves fresh garlic, pressed through the garlic press
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped

      Directions 
1. In a large bowl stir together the 3/4 cup water and yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add milk, sugar, olive oil, and salt and mix well. Then add olives, garlic, rosemary, and parmesan cheese and stir well. Mix in flour and combine well.
2. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead well, adding flour if needed to form a nice nonsticky dough. Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for about an hour.
3. Place the dough on a floured surface and form into a 6 inch round loaf. Transfer the loaf to a large greased pie pan that is lightly sprinkled with cornmeal, using a spatula if needed.  Place the loaf in a warm place to rise for an hour or until doubled in size. I like to turn the oven on for 30 seconds to a minute and then turn it off to make a great rising place.
4. Take the risen dough out of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 F. In a small bowl, combine beaten whisk together egg and 2 tablespoons water and brush this over the loaf. Bake for about 25 minutes until an instant-read thermometer reads at least 200 F.  Remove bread from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack. Serve with garlic butter and olives.

If using a bread machine, place all ingredients except cornmeal, egg, and 2 tablespoons water into the bread machine pan. Set in on dough setting and skip step 2. Proceed to step three when the machine is done and continue with remaining steps.

Directions for Sea Salt Rosemary Garlic Butter
Combine the garlic and sea salt into the butter, stirring well. Spread the butter on the warm bread and enjoy.