Focaccia Bread
Focaccia Bread
OhOh….Home Made Focaccia Bread…Oh so good, this is one of my most favorite bread recipes, and it is from one of my favorite cook books “Baking with Julia”
I have adjusted the original recipe to skip the long rise time (of 24 to 36 hours) in the refrigerator. Of course it does not have all of the wonderful bubbles, holes, and robust flavor as it does when you allow it the extra rise time in the refrigerator, but man oh man….it is still soooo good!
Once our son Aidan asked my wife why is daddy’s food so good, and she replied because of all of the love he puts into it…. This recipe is one of those labors of love. It takes some time to make, it takes some patients, and a bit of practice to master, but you know when you finally get to eat it that it is made with a lot of love inside. So now I’ll stop blubbering and salivating over the simple thought of it, and give you the recipe.
Focaccia Bread
Makes 3 Focaccia Loafs
2 ¼ to 2 ½ C warm water about 90 ̊
2 Tbsp Dry Active Yeast
¼ C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
6 ½ C All Purpose Flour
4 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Whisk ½ C of the water and the yeast together and allow the yeast to bloom or turn creamy.
While your waiting on the yeast to bloom, add 1 ¾ C of the water to your mixing bowl and add ¼ C of olive oil.
In the bowl you measured the flour into, add the salt and mix together.
Now that your Yeast has started to work, add it to the water and oil mixture, and ½ of the flour to the water, oil, and yeast mixture and stir together.
At this point you can put it into your stand mixer with the dough hook, or continue with the recipe and mix & kneed it by hand.
Add the remaining flour to the flour, yeast, and oil mixture, and place it into you mixer with the dough hook, or begin to kneed it for at least 6 to 10 minutes by hand or with your mixer on medium low speed.
As you kneed the dough (within the first 3 minutes) it should not be sticky wet---if so add a few Tbsp of flour, nor should it be crumbly dry---if so add a few Tbsp of water…What is ideal…it the dough should be silky smooth to the touch after the 6 to 10 minutes of kneading.
Now that you have either worked hard kneading it, or just watched your mixer work hard kneading it, turn the dough out into an oiled bowl and allow it to rise (covered) until doubled in size….around 30 minutes depending on how warm your house is….the warmer the dough is the faster the rise….
While still in the bowl, punch it down with your hand and fold it over onto itself. Recover the bowl, and allow it to rise a second time, until doubled in size again…around 30 minutes
Preheat Oven to 450̊ F
Finally after both rises, punch the dough down one last time, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and divide the dough into 3 equal portions and shape into 3 balls…place onto the parchment lined baking sheet and flatten out into 1 to 2 inch thick flat dough circles…use the remaining 2 Tbsp of EVOO to brush the tops of the loaves and sprinkle a nice big pinch of Kosher Salt over the tops of each loaf of bread, and allow to rest on the counter top until it almost doubles again in size….about 15 to 30 minutes. Place into hot oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until the bread is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack.
Serve with your favorite pasta, as bread for your favorite sandwiches, or just with a bit of EVOO and Aged Balsamic Vinegar…Enjoy…
