Epicures Foccacia Food

EPICURE'S FOCCACIA

Steps:

• Dissolve sugar in warm water and stir in yeast. Let sit 5 minutes.
• Soften 1/4 cup Epicure's Focaccia Bread Spices in olive oil and hot water. Cool to lukewarm, add salt and combine spices with yeast mixture.
• Stir in flour, one cup at a time.
• Knead on a floured surface until smooth (4 minutes). Let sit 5 minutes.
• Brush baking sheet with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll dough onto pan. Brush with olive oil and let rise 40 minutes.
• Add a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle with Epicure's Focaccia Bread Spices and Epicure's Sea Salt.
• Bake at 425°F (215°C) for 20-25 minutes until golden.

FOCACCIA

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together the flour, water, and yeast. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until the mixture is tripled in bulk and full of spongelike bubbles, about 2 hours.
• Add the salt. Attach the bowl to a mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low speed for 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. When the dough begins to cling to and almost climb the sides of the bowl, raise the speed to medium and beat for about 15 seconds. The dough will be wet, slack, and very sticky.
• Using a plastic bowl scraper, turn out the dough onto a well-floured work surface. (The dough will be hard to handle, but resist the urge to add flour to the top-instead, keep your hands and tools well dusted.) Fold the dough in the following manner: With the bowl scraper (and, to a lesser degree, your fingertips), gather and fold the bottom edge of the dough about one-third of the way toward the center. Pat down lightly to deflate slightly and dislodge any extra flour. Fold the top edge down one-third of the way toward the center; the two folds should overlap slightly. Repeat with left and right sides, until all edges meet and overlap in the center. Tap off excess flour as you go. Gently scoop up the dough and flip it over, seam side down. Place the dough in a lightly floured bowl, smooth side up. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Return dough to a well-floured work surface. Repeat the folding process, making sure to brush off excess flour. Lightly flour the mixing bowl, and return dough to the bowl, smooth side up. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until it has doubled in bulk again, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450°F, with a rack in the lower third. Pour 1/2 cup of the olive oil onto a 17-by-12-inch rimmed baking sheet, coating the bottom completely; set aside.
• Return dough to a well-floured surface; it should be very soft and springy. Place the dough on the prepared sheet. With your hands, flip dough over and thoroughly coat both sides with oil. With your fingertips, push the dough out toward the edges of the sheet. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for 10 minutes (this will relax the dough). With the plastic wrap still on top, continue to press out the dough to fill the pan. Remove the plastic; the dough should be very bubbly and supple. Drizzle the remaining 1/4 cup oil over the top of the dough. Sprinkle liberally with sea salt.
• Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until focaccia is evenly browned on top and bottom, 25 to 30 minutes. Immediately slide the focaccia onto a wire rack set over another rimmed baking sheet; pour any olive oil in the pan over it. Serve warm or at room temperature. Slice with a serrated knife or pizza wheel.
• Heat 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add a small onion and 1/2 fennel bulb, both thinly sliced; sauté until soft, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat, and season with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. Follow instructions for Focaccia dough. After drizzling dough with oil, scatter fennel and onion mixture on top, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Kalamata olives (pitted and halved) and some salt. Bake as instructed. While focaccia is still warm, sprinkle with chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley.
• Olive oil is poured onto a rimmed baking sheet, then topped with focaccia dough.
• The dough is carefully flipped in the pan, so that both sides are completely coated with oil.
• Gradually, the dough is pressed and patted out toward the edges of the pan. It should be dimpled and full of bubbles.

SHOCKINGLY EASY NO-KNEAD FOCACCIA

Steps:

• Whisk yeast, honey, and 2½ cups lukewarm water in a medium bowl and let sit 5 minutes. Add flour and salt; mix with a rubber spatula until a shaggy dough forms and no dry streaks remain.
• Pour 4 Tbsp. oil into the biggest bowl that will fit in your refrigerator. Transfer dough to bowl and turn to coat in oil. Cover with a silicone lid or plastic wrap and chill until dough is doubled in size (it should look very bubbly and alive), at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.
• Generously butter a 13x9" baking pan (for thicker focaccia that's perfect for sandwiches) or an 18x13" rimmed baking sheet. Pour 1 Tbsp. oil into center of pan. Keeping the dough in the bowl, gather up edges of dough farthest from you and lift up and over into center of bowl. Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat process. Do this 2 more times; you want to deflate dough while you form it into a rough ball. (Using a fork in each hand makes this process even easier and less messy!)
• Transfer dough to prepared pan. Pour any oil left in bowl over the dough and coat it in oil. Let rise, uncovered, in a dry, warm spot until doubled in size, at least 1½ hours and up to 4 hours. To see if it's ready, poke the dough with your finger. The dough should spring back slowly, leaving a small visible indentation. If it springs back quickly, the dough isn't ready. (If at this point the dough is ready to bake but you aren't, you can chill it up to 1 hour.)
• Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 450°F. Lightly oil your hands. If using a rimmed baking sheet, gently stretch out dough to fill (you may not need to do this if using a baking pan). Dimple focaccia all over with your fingers, as if you're aggressively playing the piano, creating very deep depressions in the dough. Drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp. oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake focaccia until puffed and golden brown all over, 20-30 minutes.
• Melt 4 Tbsp. butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and grate in garlic (use 2 cloves if you're garlic-shy or up to 4 if you love it). Return to medium heat and cook, stirring often, until garlic is just lightly toasted, about 45 seconds. Brush garlic butter all over focaccia. If you don't want to serve the focaccia immediately, hold off on brushing so it remains crisp.