Cottage Herb Bread

Getting up at 5am to be at work by 6 or 6:30am can be a pain, but knowing that I have planned a yummy breakfast definitely makes it easier. When smeared with locally produced goat cheese (generously shared with me by my roomie), this bread is definitely a motivator for getting up. I am a morning person though, so I cannot make any promises to those of you night owls (::cough:: my roommate who has to wake up to a blood-curdling scream as an alarm clock ::cough::).

Anyway, work is going well (the best fast food restaurant ever, Chick Fil A, though I think I am supposed to refer to it as "quick serve" and not "fast food.") I love the people I work with, they make the atmosphere and work ethic fantastic. I've never worked somewhere that people act exactly the same when the boss isn't around as when he is.

However nice CFA is, I am definitely looking forward to going to graduate school in August and buying the iPad2 that is pretty much required for the program (the school gives us a grant with which we can purchase the iPad.) I'll let you know how I like reading books and magazines and newspapers on it when I get it, since that will most likely be its primary function in my life. Wow, I am going to have an iPod, iPhone, Macbook Pro, and an iPod. Can I get any more Apple products in my life?

Cottage Herb Bread
By Martha Rose Shulman of NYTimes

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
¼ cup lukewarm water
½ teaspoon sugar
1 ½ cups low-fat or nonfat cottage cheese at room temperature, pressed through a sieve or pureed in a food processor or blender fitted with the steel blade until smooth
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon grated onion2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil¼ teaspoon baking soda¼ cup finely chopped dill
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
About 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for kneading

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large bowl and stir in the sugar. Let stand for five to ten minutes until creamy. Add the cottage cheese, egg, grated onion, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the baking soda and dill. Beat together well.

2. Add a cup of the whole wheat flour and the salt, and fold in. Add the remaining whole wheat flour, and fold in. Add enough of the all-purpose flour to make a dough that you can scrape onto a floured work surface. It will help to use a dough scraper, as the dough is sticky. Knead for 10 minutes, adding unbleached flour as necessary. The dough should be elastic and spring back when you press gently with a finger.

3. Oil a loaf pan with some of the remaining olive oil. Shape the dough into a loaf, and place in the pan with the seam side facing upward. Lightly brush the top with oil, then turn the loaf so that the seam side is down. Brush lightly again with olive oil. Spray or brush a piece of plastic wrap with oil, and place it, oiled side down, lightly over the pan. Cover with a damp kitchen towel, and place in a warm spot to rise until the dough reaches the edges of the pan, about one hour and 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees with a rack positioned in the middle.

4. Place the dough in the oven, and bake 45 minutes until it responds to tapping with a hollow sound. Remove from the pan, and cool on a rack.

Yield: One loaf, about 15 slices.

Advance preparation: Once cooled, wrap the bread well. It will keep for a few days and freezes well. But refrigerate the loaf after two days so it won't spoil.