FOCCACIA
Source of Recipe
Book: "Knead" (Laurel Glen Publishing, $19.95, 2001)
Recipe Introduction
"Knead" is a delightfully well-organized instructional book for both beginner and experienced bakers. It demonstrates how easy mastering flour, water and yeast really is. As I turned the pages and later followed the recipes, I knew I had to share this book with my daughter. Baking is a
common thread between generations and most cultures.
The major topics in "Knead" are bread, pasta and pastry. Tennant provides discussions of flours, yeasts and equipment, and she illustrates basic techniques. The step-by-step instructions and high-quality paper make this a
great book to combine with a cooling rack and rolling pin as a shower gift for a new bride or in a gift basket for a budding chef.
The recipes are illustrated, with color pictures of the final product (incentive to start the project) and black-and-white pictures of specific techniques (shaping a bagel or cappalletti). Each recipe has a useful tip; i.e. pita: "You will get the best results from this dough if you use a pizza stone to cook them on. Make sure you leave enough headroom in the oven for the breads to puff up ..."
It made me want to try everything. I decided to try a recipe for foccacia with onions, with a technique introduced to me in this book: mixing yeast, water and flour to make a "sponge" that rests for a few hours before adding the rest of the ingredients. This promised more flavor and better taste. The foccacia turned out to be, as promised, very flavorful. I really enjoyed the
nutty aroma that filled my kitchen during the sponge stage. I served it with a pecan-and-spinach salad and broiled salmon with French-fried yams.
I think the foccacia would also be great as an appetizer with sliced tomatoes and smoked turkey or salmon on top.
So, what to try next? Naan, ravioli with pumpkin and prosciutto, or Rough Puff Pastry (a savory dough made without butter).
List of Ingredients
Makes 2 loaves
1 tablespoon instant yeast
2 3/4 cups lukewarm water
6 cups white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for brushing
2 large sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves only, roughly chopped
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
Experiment with different toppings: finely sliced onions, garlic, pitted
olives and chopped sun-dried tomatoes are all excellent. This bread is made
from a sticky dough that should be kneaded by a machine.
Recipe
1. Whisk together the yeast and the water until the yeast has dissolved.
Stir in half the flour until smooth. Cover and set aside in a warm place until the "sponge" has risen by about one-third and is clearly active with lots of bubbles, 11/2-2 hours.
2. Put the remaining flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook and add the "sponge," salt, sugar and olive oil. Mix at the lowest speed until firm but still sticking to the bowl, 7 minutes. Add more flour or water as necessary
3. Increase the speed to high and knead for 1 minute more until the dough is elastic and springs back when pushed with a finger.
4. Lightly grease a large bowl. Form the dough into a neat ball and drop the dough carefully into the bowl. Rub a little oil over the surface of the dough, or use an oil mister and spray lightly. Cover with plastic wrap and
leave to rise at room temperature for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
5. After about an hour, the dough will have risen nearly to the top of the bowl. Remove the plastic wrap and tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface. This will knock the dough back. Knead for an additional 2-3 minutes
until smooth again. Leave the dough to rise until doubled in size, 1 1/2-2 hours.
6. Turn the dough, which will be sticky, onto a well-floured surface. Flour your hands and tap out into a rough rectangle. Fold in half, then in three in the opposite direction. Divide the dough in two and tap each piece into a
rectangle again. Transfer to two floured nonstick 9-by-13-by-1-inch pans, pushing the dough to fill the pans evenly.
7. Cover both loaves with a dish towel and leave to rise, about 1 hour. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
8. Using the tips of your fingers or the handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes in the dough all over. Sprinkle on the rosemary, then drizzle with the extra-virgin olive oil. Scatter over the coarse salt.
9. Bake in the center of the oven, 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 400 degrees and cook until golden and risen, 15-20 minutes. Let cool in the pans before serving.
Per piece (based on 12 pieces per loaf): 161 calories, 4 g protein, 25 g
carbohydrates, 4.5 g fat, 0 cholesterol, 424 mg sodium, 1 g fiber. Calories
from fat: 26 percent.
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