Focaccia Food

FOCACCIA BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and black pepper. Mix in the vegetable oil and water.
• When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

FOCACCIA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2-cup warm water and honey; let stand for 5 minutes. Add flour, 1/4 cup oil, salt and remaining 3/4-cup water; mixing until smooth (dough will be wet). Scrape the sides of the bowl clean; cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes., Preheat oven to 425°. Brush a 13x9-in. baking pan with 1 tablespoon oil. Gently scrape dough directly into pan. With oiled hands, gently spread dough. If dough springs back, wait 10 minutes and stretch again. Make indentations in the dough with your fingers. Drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons oil; let rise until doubled in size, 30-40 minutes. , If desired, sprinkle with sea salt. Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Cut into squares; serve warm.

FOCACCIA

Steps:

• Combine the warm water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Put the bowl in a warm, not hot or cool, place until the yeast is bubbling and aromatic, at least 15 minutes.
• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, 1/2 cup olive oil and the yeast mixture on low speed. Once the dough has come together, continue to knead for 5 to 6 minutes on a medium speed until it becomes smooth and soft. Give it a sprinkle of flour if the dough is really sticky and tacky.
• Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly floured surface, then knead it by hand 1 or 2 times. Again, give it another sprinkle of flour if the dough is really sticky and tacky.
• Coat the inside of the mixer bowl lightly with olive oil and return the dough to the bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, at least 1 hour.
• Coat a jelly roll pan with the remaining 1/2 cup olive oil. (Chef's Note: This may seem excessive, but focaccia is an oily crusted bread. This is why it is soooooooooo delicious!).
• Put the dough onto the jelly roll pan and begin pressing it out to fit the size of the pan. Turn the dough over to coat the other side with the olive oil. Continue to stretch the dough to fit the pan. As you are doing so, spread your fingers out and make finger holes all the way through the dough. (Chef's Note: Yes, this is strange. But when the dough rises again it will create the characteristic craggy looking focaccia. If you do not make the actual holes in the dough, the finished product will be very smooth.)
• Put the dough in the warm place until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour. While the dough is rising a second time, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Liberally sprinkle the top of the focaccia with some coarse sea salt and lightly drizzle a little oil on top. Bake the dough until the top of the loaf is golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the focaccia from the oven and let it cool before cutting and serving.
• Oh baby!

FOCACCIA WITH OLIVES AND ROSEMARY

Steps:

• Place 2 cups warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle dry yeast over; stir with fork. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 10 minutes.
• Add 4 1/4 cups flour and salt to yeast mixture and stir to blend well (dough will be sticky). Knead dough on floured surface until smooth and elastic, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is sticky, about 10 minutes. Form dough into ball. Oil large bowl; add dough, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down dough; knead into ball and return to same bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, about 45 minutes or less
• Coat 15x10-inch baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil. Punch down dough. Transfer to prepared sheet. Using fingertips, press out dough to 13x10-inch rectangle. Let dough rest 10 minutes. Drizzle 2 tablespoons oil over dough. Sprinkle olives and chopped rosemary evenly over. Let dough rise uncovered in warm area until puffy, about 25 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 475°F. Press fingertips all over dough, forming indentations. Bake bread until brown and crusty, about 20 minutes. Serve bread warm or at room temperature.

FOCACCIA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the yeast, 150 ml of warm water and the sugar.
• Let sit for 10 minutes until foamy.
• Add olive oil, the rest of the water and the herbs.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour and the salt.
• Add this to the wet mixture a little at a time and knead to form a dough.
• Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead vigorously for 5-10 minutes adding a little more flour if necessary to keep it from sticking.
• It will be very sticky to start with, work it until it's "clean".
• Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turn and coat the whole surface with oil.
• Cover with a damp warm cloth and let rise in a warm place for at least an hour.
• Preheat oven to 230ºC and lightly oil two rectangular baking dishes, not too big (I use a small roasting tin), turn out the dough and divide.
• Press the dough into the dishes, cover and allow to rise for a further 30 minutes (I can never be bothered to wait that long and normally leave it 10-20).
• Dimple the dough with your fingers and brush with oil.
• Sprinkle with the sea salt.
• Place in the oven and reduce the temperature to 190ºC and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
• Cool on a rack for at least half an hour.

HOMEMADE FOCACCIA BREAD

Steps:

• Combine 1 cup flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Mix well. Heat water and vegetable oil until warm, and add to yeast mixture along with the egg. Blend with an electric mixer at low speed until moistened. Beat for 2 additional minutes. Stir in 1 3/4 cup flour while beating, until dough pulls away from side of bowl.
• Knead in 3/4 cup flour on floured surface. Cover dough with a bowl, and let sit for 5 minutes. Place dough on a greased baking sheet. Roll out to 12 inch circle. Cover with greased plastic wrap and a cloth towel. Place in a warm place for 30 minutes.
• Uncover dough, and poke holes in it with a spoon handle at 1 inch intervals. Drizzle olive oil on dough, and sprinkle with crushed rosemary.
• Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 17 to 27 minutes, until just golden. Remove from baking sheet, and cool on rack.

FOCACCIA

Steps:

• Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl. Mix the yeast into one side of the flour, and the fine salt into the other side. Then mix everything together, this initial seperation prevents the salt from killing the yeast.
• Make a well in the middle of the flour and add 2 tbsp oil and 350-400ml lukewarm water, adding it gradually until you have a slightly sticky dough (you may not need all the water). Sprinkle the work surface with flour and tip the dough onto it, scraping around the sides of the bowl. Knead for 5-10 mins until your dough is soft and less sticky. Put the dough into a clean bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 1 hr until doubled in size.
• Oil a rectangle, shallow tin (25 x 35cm). Tip the dough onto the work surface, then stretch it to fill the tin. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for another 35-45 mins.
• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Press your fingers into the dough to make dimples. Mix together 1½ tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp water and the flaky salt and drizzle over the bread. Push sprigs of rosemary into the dimples in the dough.
• Bake for 20 mins until golden. Whilst the bread is still hot, drizzle over 1-2 tbsp olive oil. Cut into squares and serve warm or cold with extra olive oil, if you like.