Sunday, June 28, 2009

Magazine Monday #42: Herbed Focaccia

I've had this recipe from the May 1994 issue of Canadian Living Magazine for quite some time, and I've made it several times, particularly when I worked at a retreat centre and we needed a quick pizza crust. I didn't do the sponge step back then, but I did it today and it was well worth it!

Herbed Focaccia (adapted by me)

1 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
2 1/4 - 2 1/2 cups bread flour (all purpose will work)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried herbs of your choice (I used thyme & oregano)

1. Make the sponge. To do so, combine 1 cup flour, the sugar, and the water in a bowl until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap & let sit at warm room temperature for at least an hour.2. Once the sponge has done its thing, add the salt (I forgot to do this, and man, could I ever tell the difference!), herbs, olive oil, and enough additional flour to make a nice dough.

3. Proceed as per these instructions.

In the end, I got enough dough to fill a 9x9" pan. I docked the dough with my fancy docker and set it to rise under a towel.Docking the dough allows for it to rise and bake evenly, with fewer big giant air bubbles making the surface all weird.

After baking, I had this:Nice, eh?

The loaf was feather light and had very little weight to it. And it was bland, despite the herbs, because I'd forgotten the salt.

And you'll just have to wait and see what amazing sandwich I made with this focaccia for dinner - but I can tell you it was outstanding!

11 comments:

Creative Classroom Core said...

What an amazing looking foccacia! I love making foccacia bread to go with spaghetti.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Beautiful and so tempting!

Cheers,

Rosa

Coleens Recipes said...

WOW-eeee!!

Donna-FFW said...

Love focaccia.. sorry it turned out bland. It looks perfect and I love youyr choice of 2 herbs. Cant wait to see the sandwich..

Heather S-G said...

Here you go again! It is making me drool and be super envious of your amazing skills! Awesome :)

Bob said...

Awesome! I love foccacia, it's a good time. That looks wicked good, but I feel you on forgetting the salt. I've done that before, it's rough. :/

Reeni said...

Love focaccia - especially to make sandwiches with. This one looks delicious! We had a bland pizza dough the other day - for the same reason - not enough salt.

Sara said...

Looks delicious, I love focaccia! I always sprinkle mine with some coarse sea salt before baking, adds good flavor and a bit of crunch.

Tina said...

I live a sheltered life - I've never even seen a docker until I read this post. I saw it at work....well, I read it at work because they block the actual photos. Nice!

Dewi said...

Your gadget look so cool. I love focaccia!

creampuff said...

Oh, I love the docker! And I'll try any focaccia recipe ... I love the stuff. Great choice!

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