Nutritious olive and mixed seeds bread loaf

My first encounter with olive bread was pretty primitive since it was during an expedition that I was doing in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. Travelling and exploration had always been a dream of mine, especially as a teenager, since the idea of being free and discovering new places was more exciting than the usual pace of life. I was always (and still am) on the lookout to try new experiences and learn about what the world had to offer.

Peru was the perfect change of scenery as the culture, the people and the landscape is wildly different from the UK. When I arrived, it was not just the humidity that shocked me, but the friendliness and the obvious interest that Peruvians take in foreigners. Since the country is not as open and diverse as London, we stood out as we browsed the markets and restaurants.

Food in Peru was an amazing cultural experience. The products that we discovered were overwhelming! The markets hosted produce such as horse's head, beetles, and cow intestines. These I did not try. However, some of the food highlights of my experience included sweet fried plantain, churros, and fresh juicy papaya. The taste of fresh, ripe fruit and vegetables do not even come close to the ones imported to the UK!

I have been going off track...back to my first experience with olive bread, which was during a jungle trek, so we had limited ingredients. Our group leader suggested being creative with the limited resources that we had and attempted to make olive bread using olive, flour and river water. Although there were no raising ingredients, the texture was not bad, although a tad stodgy. I had never really liked olives growing up, but as my taste buds have changed, I have become acquired to its taste. To me, it's distinctive taste is one that people have a love-hate relationship with.

With this recipe, I wanted to the taste of the olive to be highlighted in the bread, and I think the added mixed seeds really bring the flavours together with the wholewheat bread flour. This recipe has an earthy taste from the seeds and wholewheat, and the olives add the unique salty bursts.  Since I used a mix of plain and wholewheat flour, the texture was light and I was very pleased with the crunchy crust. However, this method of bread making does not create a loaf that can keep for very long. It is best eaten within 2 days, but it makes a great toasted sandwich if it becomes slightly stale.

Ingredients

1.5 cups white bread flour
1.5 cups wholemeal flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped black olives
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 cups warm water
1/4 cup seeds (extra for topping)

Directions
In a large bowl, mix together flour, yeast, sugar, salt, black olives, olive oil, and water.
Turn out dough onto a floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes. Set aside, and let rise about 45 minutes, until it doubles in size. Punch down. Knead well again, for about 5 to 10 minutes. Let it rise for about 30 minutes, until it doubles in size.
Round the dough on kneading board. Place upside down in a bowl lined with a lint-free, well floured towel. Let it rise until double in size.
Gently turn loaf out onto a sheet pan.

Bake loaf at 500 degrees F (260 degrees C) for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Bake for 30 more minutes, or until done*.

* Since I used wholewheat flour, I removed the loaf from the pan and placed it back in the oven after 20 minutes. From past experiences, I have found that wholewheat takes a little longer to cook.