Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Focaccia Bread

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This crusty, dimpled flatbread goes best with saucy dishes. I like it with a thick tomato-ey soup for lunch. Most times, I can't even wait for the soup and I just eat it with cheese and parma ham (if the boys haven't discovered my loot).

Focaccia Bread

500g bread flour
300 ml chilled water
70 ml olive oil
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1 t salt (add 1/2 t more if like)
2 1/2 t dry yeast
3/4 T dried rosemary or 2 T fresh rosemary, chopped finely
extra olive oil

1. Put bread flour, water, olive oil, salt, pepper, yeast (make sure it's active) and rosemary (if using dried, rub it between your palms to release the flavor...a tip from Daisy) into a good mixer, like the Kenwood Major and, using a dough hook, knead the dough at speed 2 for 7 to 8 min until it's soft. (As with all machines, make sure you don't overheat it so stop halfway and give it a 30-sec rest).

2. Cover the dough with a cloth and let it proof 1 1/2 hours in a warm place, such as the oven.

3. Grease the bottom of a 13" x 13"/33 cm x 33 cm Swiss roll tray or oven tray with some olive oil. Sprinkle some flour all over the tray.

4. Take dough out of the bowl and knead it on a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll dough into a large rectangle, making the center thinner than the sides (so it's easy to pat the dough out to fill the tray). Now transfer the dough by using the rolling pin and place dough onto the oven tray.Pat with your hands or use a small rolling pin to roll the dough out to fill the sides and corners of the tray. Leave to rise 1 hour or more, till very puffed/doubled.

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5. Switch oven on to 200 C. Brush the surface of the bread with 1 T olive oil. Be gentle or dough will sink. Scatter some rosemary all over, then make the characteristic dimples on the bread using your fingers. Leave 5 min. Put into oven and bake 16 to 18 min. You can sprinkle some coarse salt all over when still hot. It should be crusty outside, soft inside. Yum.

11 comments:

a feast, everyday said...

Yumz...good ideal 2 roll out right in d baking tray itself 4 lazy ppl like me :p

WoMbOk™♂ said...

I love focaccia bread!

Esp if theres a slice of roasted lamb in between. Yummy..

Greg Wee said...

NEE: Wooo...cant wait to try this one...Think Greg will love this

Denise ^ ChickyEGG said...

who's helping u to snap that pic while u do the rolling? hahah, Wey?

Anonymous said...

Anything with rosemary tastes YUM! The bread looks real gooood, esp when eaten fresh out of the oven :)

T - your blog is a real distraction especially during datelines! ..... AND it has also been a great inspiration... now I have more ideas what to do with the mixer.

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

feast: u know me, never scrimping on ingredients but always taking short cuts!like u lah.

wombok: u know ur food well. er. tt's a scary profile pic!

gregwee: i can't understand why greg's so 'miau tiau' XD

denise: who says those stubby fingers r mine??ok lah, hub took tt pic. sometimes i want to train Vero to take pics for me but d last time she did tt, take our CNY family portrait, she took most of the ceiling, or mostly our knees..almost like abstract art.wey said, mom u sure u want to show ur fingers?ppl can tell u r old! ungrateful little thing!

b: now, now u have to learn not to blame others for ur lack of control! :D hey, u made a good choice getting the K. Major. Now for the oven...

Denise ^ ChickyEGG said...

* LOlz *... your boy really cute!
Hey, this 'type' of fingers are Good mum's fingers! According to Feng Shui book says....OK OK, I better stop here, otherwise might offend others! ahhahahhahah

Anonymous said...

have enjoyed every bit of your blog. very generous to share your recipes. have not tried any yet but all sounds interesting.

Your family is so blessed to have a mummy/wife that can fill their tummy everyday with yummy food.

by the way, have u made any muffins before. Would love to have one muffin recipe that works.

thanks.

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

denise: 'good mom's fingers'!if u dont want to end up with fingers like mine, don't bother to cook bc too much kneading, cutting etc will thicken & roughen them.i used to have long slender fingers, swear...

anon: hey thank u. would u believe it, i've never made muffins. my whole fam don't like muffins. I can never finish one - they're so big. also, muffins aren't quite cake, aren't quite bread...if u go to one of my links (greg&nee), there's a great muffin recipe;nee's a fantastic baker.:)

Anonymous said...

thank you for quick reply.

red | hongyi said...

im starting to like muffins :D

there's a cafe near by place that sells yummy ones. White cholocate and raspberry, and the chives with pumpkin is pretty good too.

i might give baking muffins a try ;)

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