Dom in the Kitchen Homepage

Recipes from my Lincolnshire kitchen

olive and pine nut bread – and a little bit about my kitchen

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whilst the kitchen is by no means finished… the wall and floor tiles still need to be laid… all that’s really left is general styling and of course I get to put everything back into the kitchen that I took out… it’s like being given a giant blank canvas and i’m not quite sure where to start… I have decided to throw caution to the wind and move back in… goodbye small temporary kitchen in a bedroom… farewell washing up dishes in the bathroom… hello lovely new kitchen…

… The Viking and I are very proud of what we’ve done with it too… when we moved in to Belleau Cottage 10 years ago, we inherited a lovely, hand-built, pine kitchen which came with 20 years of its own deep patina of wear… we loved it and it would never have crossed our minds to replace it, instead we have given it a new lease of life with some wonderful 1950’s inspired colours… and updated it with new pewter handles… we’ve also brought it crashing into the 21st Century by topping it all off with the most brilliant bamboo worktops… we love bamboo, not only is it stylish and interesting it is also very eco-friendly, being a fast growing grass, rather than slow growing wood or eons-in-the-making granite…

… one of the other things we inherited in the kitchen was a crappy old oven… it worked perfectly fine, as you know but I had always promised myself a range cooker… and I have treated myself to a lovely little black number with 3 ovens and 5 hobs…

… I’m only giving you a sneak preview just now as I want to wait till it’s complete before I reveal all… and in the meantime here’s a lovely olive and pine nut loaf I baked in the new oven this morning…

Olive and Pine Nut Loaf


i saw a pack of those fresh green and black olives with chilli yesterday and thought they’d make a lovely addition to a loaf along with some pine nuts for that rich Mediterranean taste… it’s my basic white loaf recipe as I wanted to go for something familiar for my first bake in the new oven… and it’s turned out very delicious…



450g strong white bread flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoon local honey 
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fast action dried yeast
100ml hand-hot water 
200ml milk
9 large mixed olives – sliced

– put the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir in the oil, honey, salt and yeast.

– pour over the water/milk and gently bring together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes.  You should end up with a really soft silky dough. After 10 minutes spread the dough out slightly and pace the nuts and olives on top, then knead again for another minute or so. 

– place the dough in a large bowl, cover with cling film and let it prove in a warm place for at least and hour or two until it has doubled in size

– knock back the dough for 2-3 minutes, then shape it into a rough oblong and place it into a greased bread tin, cover with a tea-towel and let it rise again for a further 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size.

– preheat the oven to 230c, score the top of the loaf with a sharp knife and dust with a little flour, bake for 30-35 minutes until golden.  

If you want a really crispy crust, take the bread out of the tin and place it back onto the oven shelf for a further 5 minutes.

eat and of course, enjoy!

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Comments

  1. From the Kitchen says

    I like what I see so far! Love the shade of blue. We ended up painting old cabinets (from 1921) and adding new hardware in our kitchen. I've heard good things about the bamboo counter tops. Wonderful range!! It just screams “delicious things cooking”! I know you'll be happy to be settled back in. Enjoy the process!

    Best,
    Bonnie

  2. Brownieville Girl says

    So excited with the new kitchen – it looks beautiful. I love your choice of colours and that work top is georgous (and now I'm feeling guilty about mine taking eons to make!!!)

    I'm playing around with a new oven too – look forward to seeing how you do.

    Loving those flavours in the bread.

  4. From Beyond My Kitchen Window says

    The heck with the bread, I want to gush about your new kitchen. I love the color of the cabinets and hardware to chose. The minimal look above the bamboo counter top is to die for. How nice for you both to have it almost complete. I have to go back and read the bread part of your post. My kitchen emotions got the best of me and I neglected to finish the rest.

  5. Ocean Breezes and Country Sneezes says

    Ya, ya, ya about the bread! I'm sure it's delicious! It's the kitchen I want to see! LOL!!! LOVE the color of your cabinets! I've never known anyone to use bamboo on a counter top, just floors – can't wait until the final reveal!

    Now that I've relaxed, I've read the bread recipe. It looks really delicious! I hope to give it a try as I love olives and pine nuts!

    Happy cooking!

  7. Karen S Booth says

    I LOVE the pastel colours of the kitchen and really like what I see so far…..I know what you mean about inheriting stuff, we inherited a lovely old Provence style kitchen here in France, and although it may not be the latest in sleek stainless steel and granite, I love it, and it wears its badge of age so well and is warm and cosy.
    Love the bread recipe, but I am a bit of a bread fiend!
    Karen

  9. C says

    Looks beautiful – I'm very jealous of what I can see so far! You must be very relieved to be back in a proper kitchen!

    The bread looks great too – what a good recipe to break a new oven in with!

  10. Janice says

    You are such a tease Dom! Glad to hear you are out of the bedroom and back in the kitchen – oh dear that doesn't quite sound right, hee hee! Your bread looks good anyway…I'll get me coat.

  11. Anne says

    The bread both looks and sounds delicious! Like the sound of those olives! mm!

    Looking forward to seeing the finished kitchen piccies, the teaser piccies look fab, love the colours!

  13. Susan Lindquist says

    Squeeeeek! That's me squealing as I look at the beginnings of new things from the new and improved …

    So excited for you, Dom! very cool! Nice colors, by the by!
    Love the lack of clutter on those shelves! Nothing like my 'pack rat' kitchen!

    Oh shoot! Forgot the bread! Eat it fast and make something else in that new oven!

  14. Suelle says

    Can't wait to see the completed kitchen – it's looking great so far.

    PS – I can't find an email address to contact you – I nominated you for the '7 Links' project, in case you didn't notice. Read the post on my blog to find out more.

  16. Chele says

    Never mind the loaf (although it does look truly srcuumy)! I LOVE YOUR KITCHEN! You have the work benches and the colour scheme that I really want when I get a new kitchen. Jealous much?!

  19. PFx says

    Now it looks hip for a hollywood-cottage show huh?!
    Awesome renov Dom! Such a cosy place to invite sparks of inspirations.

  21. Shu Han says

    btw from a design student's pov, just want to say, LOVE that blue, please get matching utensils! can totally imagine that slight retro english feel to everything, so in right now.

  22. mycustardpie.com says

    I haven't visited for a while and got such a surprise to see your lovely new kitchen. It looks gorgeous. I look forward to seeing what you get up too with your new range cooker. Enjoy.

  25. Choclette says

    Ah ha, you had me on tenterhooks all for nothing!!!! Love the colours you've used and the bamboo top – I've not come across bamboo used in that way before. And three ovens, that's just greedy! You must be so excited, it all sounds fabulous. The bread looks good too of course.