Easy Fougasse Bread Food

FOUGASSE

Steps:

• Pour water into a large bowl. Sprinkle yeast into water, and let it stand undisturbed until dissolved. Stir in 1 cup flour, 1 tablespoon herbs, sea salt, and 2 tablespoons oil until well blended. Mix in the flour, 1 cup at a time until a thick and somewhat sticky dough forms.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Form into a ball, and place into an oiled bowl. Flip the dough to coat the surface. Cover the bowl with a clean dishtowel, and let it rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Punch dough down, and divide in half. Shape into an irregular ovals, about 1 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle cornmeal over 2 baking sheets; transfer dough to pans. Brush each loaf with olive oil, and sprinkle the remaining herbs on top. Make several slashes in the bread, cutting through the dough with a knife. Cover the loaves with clean dishtowels. Let rise again until the dough begins to rise again, about 20 minutes.
• Place baking sheets into a preheated 450 degree F (220 degree C) oven. Quickly splash a small amount of water onto the floor of your oven to create steam, and close the oven door. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

EASY FOUGASSE BREAD RECIPE

Steps:

• In the mixing bowl add the water and sprinkle the yeast on top, let sit 10 minutes, stir to combine.
• Add the flour and salt knead on speed #1 for 1 minute then increase to #2 and knead for 7 minutes, add the olive oil and chopped rosemary and knead to combine, approximately 1 minute.
• Move the dough (it will be a bit sticky) to a lightly floured flat surface and knead into a dough ball, lightly flour the top of the dough and place in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm draft free area for approximately 1 1½ hours or until doubled.
• Lightly brush 2 cookie sheets with olive oil, then cover with parchment paper, brush with more olive oil (3-4 tablespoons)
• Divide the dough on a lightly floured flat surface and shape one into a rectangle and another into a oval shape (about 12x7 inches / 31x19 cm) place each on the prepared cookies sheets and again brush the bread well with olive oil (2-3 tablespoons each), cover and let rest 20 minutes.
• With a sharp knife make cuts into the dough (see photos), cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm draft free area for approximately 1 hour.
• Pre-heat oven to 425F (215C).
• Sprinkle the bread with some rock salt and bake for approximately 15-20 minutes. Move immediately to a wire rack to cool or eat warm. Serve with the dipping sauce if desired. Enjoy!

FOUGASSE

Steps:

• Put the flour in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, sprinkle the yeast over 1/4-cup/60 ml warm water. Stir 1/4-cup/60 g flour from the large bowl into the yeast to make a paste. Let sit until it starts to foam, about 10 minutes.
• Make a well in the flour. Crack in the eggs, and add the salt, oil, and chopped rosemary. Pour in 1/4-cup/60 ml water and mix. Finally, add the yeast starter to combine, and gradually draw in the flour to make dough. Add the olives and knead into smooth dough. Place in a bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place 1 hour.
• Punch down the dough and roll into a thin rectangle, using a rolling pin. Place on a baking sheet. Cook's Note: You can scatter cornmeal underneath if you like.
• Cut three slits down each side, to give the bread a leaf look. Separate the slits with your fingers to make long holes. Let the bread rise 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Whisk together the egg and water, if using. Brush the top of the bread with the egg wash, then bake until risen and golden, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let cool 10 minutes at least before serving.

FUGASSA BREAD

Steps:

• Cook oil, onions and peppers slowly in a large skillet over medium-low heat until the onions are transparent. When you cook onions and peppers slowly, the natural sugars caramelize, and they become quite sweet. Set aside to cool to lukewarm.
• In a large bowl, stir yeast into warm water to soften. Add salt, sugar, 2 cups flour, 1 cup cheese, and the cooled peppers. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes.
• Gradually add flour, a little at a time, until you have a dough stiff enough to knead. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead, adding flour as necessary, until you have a smooth, elastic dough. Put the dough into an oiled bowl. Turn once to coat the entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Turn the dough out onto work surface. Knead in the remaining 1 cup cheese, leaving large streaks of the cheese visible. The streaks will toast and add an attractive look to the bread, not to mention a marvelous flavor.
• Shape the dough into a ball. Flatten the top slightly, and place on a well-greased baking sheet. Cover with a towel and let rise for 45 minutes.
• Just before baking, brush the tops of the loaves with cold water and sprinkle with coarse sea salt, if desired. Slit the loaf in three places, about 1/2-inch deep, across the top.
• For added crispness, steam should be added to the oven for the first 10 minutes of baking. I put 2 cups of ice cubes directly on the floor of my oven. By the time they have melted and evaporated the 10 minutes is usually up. Since some people have trouble working with this theory, you can also put a pan of boiling water on the bottom shelf of the oven and remove it after the first 10 minutes of baking. Just be sure to work quickly to prevent loss of oven heat.
• Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 30 minutes, or until done. Immediately remove bread from baking sheet and cool on a rack. Makes 1 large loaf.

FOUGASSE

Steps:

• Make starter:
• Stir together sugar and warm water in bowl of mixer. Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If yeast doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)
• Whisk flour into yeast mixture until combined well. Let starter rise, loosely covered with plastic wrap, 30 minutes.
• Make dough:
• Add sugar, salt, crushed anise seeds, water, orange-flower water, zest, 1/3 cup oil, and 11/4 cups flour to starter and beat at medium speed until smooth. Mix in remaining 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup at a time, at low speed until a soft dough forms.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, sprinkling surface lightly with flour if dough is very sticky, until smooth and elastic (dough will remain slightly sticky), 8 to 10 minutes. Form dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled large bowl, turning dough to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Punch down dough (do not knead), then halve. Pat out each half into an oval (about 12 inches long and 1/4 inch thick), then transfer to 2 lightly oiled large baking sheets.
• Using a very sharp knife or a pastry scraper, make a cut down center of each oval "leaf," cutting all the way through to baking sheet and leaving a 1-inch border on each end of cut. Make 3 shorter diagonal cuts on each side of original cut, leaving a 1-inch border on each end of cuts, to create the look of leaf veins (do not connect cuts). Gently pull apart cuts about 1 1/2 inches with your fingers. Let dough stand, uncovered, until slightly puffed, about 30 minutes.
• Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Brush loaves with remaining tablespoon oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake, switching position of baking sheets halfway through baking, until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on bottom, 35 to 40 minutes total. Transfer loaves to a rack and cool to warm or room temperature.