BBD#27 - Pan de jamón (Ham bread)

Yesterday I had the opportunity to learn how to make this wonderful bread from a great cook from Venezuela, Jorge Kleiss. Excellent timing, because Canela Y Comino is hosting this month's Bread Baking Day #27 which is a monthly breadbaking event for passionate bakers and bread lovers around the world.

The bread is a traditional dish for Christmas time and is filled with ham, bacon, raisins and green olives. The filling seems rather odd: ham and raisins, bacon and olives? Smokey, sweet and salty? And yet it works wonderfully well. Give it a try and enjoy this great bread all year long!

Pan de jamón

2 teaspoons of active dry yeast

1/2 cup of milk, warm

2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, divided

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 stick of butter, room temperature
1 egg, beaten
16 slices of smoked ham
4 slices of bacon, uncooked
1/2 cup of raisins
1/2 cup of green olives, stuffed
1 egg, beaten (for brushing)

Activate the yeast in the warm milk and mix with the flour, the sugar, the salt, the butter and the egg. Knead into a smooth and supple dough: cover and rest for 30 minutes. If the dough is too dry, add a tablespoon of milk at a time. If it's too wet, add a tablespoon of flour at a time. The dough should be soft and pillowy, and not too sticky.

Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface to about half an inch thick, into a rectangle. Distribute the slices of ham across the dough, overlapping. Place the four slices of bacon on top, then sprinkle the raisins and olives over the surface. Now roll the dough toward you, fairly tight, into a neat dough "sausage". The olives will bulge the dough so you don't want to roll it too tight and risk the olives breaking through, but not too loose either because you want the roll to stay compact. Brush the part of the dough below the last row of ham slices with some beaten egg, then pinch the ends and pinch the seam. Place the bread seam-down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cover with a humid towel or some plastic wrap and rest for about 20 minutes.

Heat your oven to 350F. Carefully brush the bread roll with egg. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on a rack, slice and serve. Christmas or not, this bread is wonderful!