Fennel and Sesame Bread from Cyprus (p. 160)

I haven't made bread in forever, mostly because I lent my My Bread cookbook to someone and haven't seen it in a few months. However, there are Mediterranean bread recipes, so I really don't have any excuses.

Enter Fennel and Sesame Bread from Cyprus, which is a fairly quick recipe -- the dough only needs to rise for a couple of hours.

Dissolve yeast in warm water and then mix in flour (both white and whole wheat) and salt, and knead together along with olive oil for about 10 minutes. Place the dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth for two hours.

Once the dough has had a chance to rise, punch it down and knead in the fennel seeds, making sure to distribute it evenly. Form two separate loaves by rolling the dough into long skinny shapes. Set these aside for another half hour while the oven is heating.

Just before the bread goes into the oven (on a pre-heated baking sheet scattered with corn meal) paint the loaves with egg whites beaten with water and scatter the tops of the loaves with sesame seeds. Slice the tops of the dough with a sharp knife and then bake the bread for about 25 minutes.

This has a pretty strong fennel flavor which isn't my favorite, but the bread is a nice consistency and I enjoyed dipping it in soup during my lunch today.

sesame -- $2.40 (with about half the bag left)

Total Cost of Fennel and Sesame from Cyprus: $2.40