The Monday Recipe Blog

Hello, what a great autumn Monday day it is!  Here's another recipe that works great in a cast-iron skillet. The cast iron puts a nice, crispy crust on the bread and it smells so good when cooking. Put a bottle of seasoned olive oil on your table to dip it in, and this bread will be gone in seconds!



Garlic Skillet Bread:

You will need:

1 T. sugar
1 c. warm water (105 degreesF) divided
1 pkg active dry yeast
2 1/4 c. flour, all-purpose
2 t. salt, divided
1/4 c. plus 2 T. olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, thinly-sliced

In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in 1/2 c. of the warm water - watch the temperature closely - you need it to be around 105 degrees for the yeast to work properly.  Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Then add the other 1/2 c. of water, flour, 1/2 t. of the salt and 1/4 c. of the olive oil.  Stir this with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a soft dough.

Put the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it for about 10 minutes. 

Form the dough into a ball and put it in a large, oiled bowl.  Turn it to coat the ball with the oil, seal the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.

Coat the bottom and sides of a 10 inch cast iron skillet with 1 T. of olive oil.  Put the dough into the skillet and press it evenly into the pan.  Score the top lightly in a crisscross with a sharp knife, brush with the remaining 1 T. olive oil and sprinkle the garlic over the top.  Sprinkle with the remaining salt and let rise for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degreesF. 

Place the skillet in the oven on a center rack and bake until the crust is lightly-golden.  This will be about 20 to 25 minutes.  Remove it from heat immediately and place it on a wire rack.  Drizzle some olive oil on the top, slice into wedges and serve immediately.