Broken Arm Bread

This bread owes it's name to the event that led to its inception. My daughter broke her arm falling off the monkey bars, and being confined to the house nursing her I had time to come up with new recipes. As always, simple is best. I used the herbs I had on hand in my garden, and I imagine this bread would be good with any number of herb combinations.

Broken Arm Bread

2 cups luke warm water
1 TBSP active dry yeast
1 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
fresh herbs by the handful - I used a generous handful each of basil, rosemary, dill, parsley and sage, but use what you have on hand. Pulse in a food processor or mince by hand.
12-20 pitted kalamata olives (depending on how olive-y you want the bread to taste), chopped
4 TBSP wheat gluten (optional)
4-5 cups whole wheat flour

Dissolve yeast in water in a large bowl. Whisk in salt, olive oil, herbs, olives and gluten. Add 3 cups of flour and stir with a spoon until a wet dough forms. Sprinkle 1/2 cup flour on kneading surface and turn dough out of bowl onto floured surface. Sprinkle 1/2 cup flour on top of dough and knead until flour is absorbed. Add more flour if/as needed until dough stops sticking to kneading surface. Your total flour should be somewhere between 4 and 5 cups. Place dough ball in oiled bowl and cover with a cloth. Place in a warm spot and let rise for about an hour, until it's doubled in size and doesn't spring back when indented. Punch down and knead a few times, then form into a round loaf and place on a baking stone or inverted cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Place in oven and allow to rise another hour or so, then turn oven on to 375 and bake for 1 hour. Serve with butter or olive oil for dipping, or use for savory sandwiches!