Focaccia
More bread!
It has been miserable around here so I am hunkering down with another bread recipe -Focaccia
Our favourite bakery, the one I worked at when I was in high school, they make an amazing focaccia.
It has peppers and olives and tomatoes on it, this one is plain.
But I am down for that
This is a basic recipe
There are only 5 ingredients and one of them is water
I am hoping this bake is going to go smoothly
Ok, so far not off to a good start. I am to whisk the water, flour and yeast and this proves to be difficult as there is a lot of flour
Also, there is not enough room for it to triple in size, but here we go with the first proof
Well the good news is it didn’t overflow the bowl
The bad news is, it is not bubbly at all
I add the salt and use the mixer as instructed by Martha
Time to get ready for the next proof
I pour, yes pour, this on to my floured surface – it is really sticky and blob-like. I try folding it, I do my best but it is really sloppy
I get it back in the bowl and proof again
It comes out a little easier this time but is still sloppy
I make my folds and put it back in the bowl to proof again
I pour an enormous amount of oil into the pan and when the proof is done, I slide it out and it is spongy just like the book says and I get it on the pan and toss it in the oil – did I mention the ridiculous amount of oil – and smoosh it out with my fingertips
I now put more oil on the dough before I put it in the oven
Oh, it smells so good.
I take it out of the oven and on a cooling rack and pour the oil leftover in the tray all over the bread, yes you read that right, we are not wasting any of the oil
Once it cools, I look at the bottom it looks so good and crispy, I can’t wait to try this
It is amazing! It is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside and has such good flavour.
It is heavy on the oil
I won’t use as much next time and there will be a next time
There are a lot of good recipes, and a few great ones in this book (so far) but this one is my favourite
Undeniably Bakeable!
