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Cretan Bread
This Cretan (or Cretan-style) bread has a soft dough, enriched with olive oil, preserved tomatoes, green olives and cooked onions.
98 K 4.1/5 (24 reviews)
4 hours 30 min.
Easy
16 pieces
12 IngredientsLast modified on: October 24th 2017
For 16 pieces, you will need:
- 1
1 1⁄3 cup green olives - 2
1 1⁄3 cup onion - 3
4 tablespoons olive oil - 4
1 1⁄3 cup feta - 5
1 1⁄3 cup preserved tomatoes - 6
13 cups plain white flour (French Type 65) - 7
5 ½ cups water - 8
¼ cup fine (or table) salt - 9
2 tablespoons yeast - 10
1 cup leaven (optional) - 11 ½ cup olive oil
- 12
2 tablespoons dry oregano
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 40 min.
Resting: 3 hours 20 min.
Cooking: 30 min.
All in all: 4 hours 30 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 3 min.
Prepare the filling
Roughly chop 1 1⁄3 cup green olives.
Stage 3 - 3 min.
Pour 4 tablespoons olive oil into a saucepan on medium heat. Add the onions, salt and pepper, then mix well.
Cook uncovered without colouring for 2 or 3 minutes.
Cook uncovered without colouring for 2 or 3 minutes.
Stage 4 - 1 min.
Add the onions, 1 1⁄3 cup feta and 1 1⁄3 cup preserved tomatoes to the olives...
Stage 5 - 1 min.
...then mix all this together.
Stage 6
In bread-making, the water temperature is always important. It's not a fixed value, but related to 3 other temperatures: 1) the temperature of your flour, 2) the room temperature in your kitchen, and 3) the basic temperature of this recipe, which is 56-60°C.
You can calculate the temperature of the water for this recipe in one click, using this small calculator.
You can calculate the temperature of the water for this recipe in one click, using this small calculator.
Stage 7 - 5 min.
Put into a food processer bowl: 13 cups plain white flour (French Type 65) *, 5 ½ cups water, ¼ cup fine (or table) salt, 2 tablespoons yeast and 1 cup leaven.
*You can use a "strong" bread flour, if this is available.
*You can use a "strong" bread flour, if this is available.
Stage 8 - 20 min.
Knead on slow speed for 16 minutes.
Note: For the best way to knead, see: A few tips for effective kneading at home.
Note: For the best way to knead, see: A few tips for effective kneading at home.
Stage 9 - 1 min.
Towards the end of kneading, add ½ cup olive oil in a thin stream.
Stage 10
Tip: you can use the oil from the preserved (or sun-dried) tomatoes as the olive oil.
Stage 11 - 1 min.
Finish by adding 2 tablespoons dry oregano.
Stage 12 - 1 min.
Add the filling mixture...
Stage 13 - 2 min.
...and knead just enough to mix this in.
Stage 14 - 2 hours
Gather the dough into a ball, transfer to a large, clean bowl and cover with a plastic sheet.
Leave to rest for 2 hours.
Leave to rest for 2 hours.
Stage 15 - 20 min.
After resting, weigh out the dough into 300 g lumps and shape into balls. Leave these to rest for 30 minutes, covered with a plastic sheet (so that they do not form a crust).
Stage 16 - 1 hour
After this, reshape the balls and put into "bannetons" (baskets).
Leave to rise, covered with plastic as before, for 1 hour.
Leave to rise, covered with plastic as before, for 1 hour.
Stage 17 - 2 min.
Stage 18 - 25 min.
Bake for about 25 minutes.
Remarks
If you don't have any oregano, you can use thyme or a mix like "herbes de Provence" instead.
The yeast can be replaced with 300 g of soured dough.
The yeast can be replaced with 300 g of soured dough.
Keeping: A few days in a cloth bag. Freezes well.
Source: Home made but dedicated to Arnaud the french-cretan guy.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 320 RDI=120 % | 1,890 RDI=180 % | 1,120 RDI=170 % | 12,010 RDI=600 % | 50,300 RDI: 600 % |
| Per 100 g | 6 RDI=3 % | 40 RDI=4 % | 20 RDI=4 % | 250 RDI=10 % | 1,060 RDI: 10 % |
| Per piece | 20 RDI=8 % | 120 RDI=10 % | 70 RDI=10 % | 750 RDI=40 % | 3,140 RDI: 40 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 16 pieces : 14.60 €
- Per piece : 0.95 €
Change currency: 
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Plain white flour (French Type 65)
Like these other recipes: Jura bread, Mustard baps, Loaf for "les filles'", Hamburger buns, Pizza dough, ... See them all 19
Water
Like these other recipes: Kouign-amann, Natural leaven, Raisin breads (pains aux raisins), Sugar syrup, Cassoulet, ... See them all 136
Preserved tomatoes
You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Spring Bread, Tomato foccacia, Pan-fried chicken breast on mozzarella, Cauliflower tabbouleh, Pasta with pesto and preserved tomatoes, ... See them all 8
Onion
Like these other recipes: Moussaka, African style chicken, Algerian brik rolls, Shakshuka, Roscoff salad, ... See them all 147
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