La Focaccia Revisited!

  The focaccia alla Genovese invites our taste buds to meet first the bold flavor of the salt, then  oil and, finally, the dough it self. A real Genovese ( that comes from Genova-Italy) eats the focaccia dipped in Caffelattè !!! did you know that? Try  it, and you will be pleasantly surprised!

 The focaccia alla genovese must be two centimeters high on average , crunchy, soft and friable, never rubbery. As regards the real focaccia alla genovese; should not take less than eight hours rising time, We will show you here a version a bit 'faster, but still good; and of course with my oriental twist!

La Focaccia Revisited

Ingredients :

• 300 gm All-Purpose flour. about 2 1/2 cups.
• 200 ml water (warm) about 1 cup.
• 2 teaspoon active dry yeast or 12 gm  compressed fresh yeast .
• 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for the pan .
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar .
• Kosher salt 
• 1/4 ts Dried thyme, origano and 1/2 ts Sumac 

Procedure:

• Divide your flour in two .
• Add together oil, water, sugar and salt 
• Put half the flour in your Food processor and add all your  water -oil mix.
• pulse for 1 minutes 
• add your yeast 
•   pulse for 1 minutes 
• Add the rest of the flour and pulse till  the dough forms one ball P.s : the dough will be sticky .
• Take it out and knead for 5 minutes till elastic and silky.
• Put your dough in a 20x 30 cm pan ( after oiling it ) and leave it to rise for 1 hour.

• Pat your dough till it fills the pan while adding some oil , add some kosher salt and leave it to rise for 30 minutes. (like the photo above)

• With the tips of your fingers make some pockets , add some  olive oil and your rosemary and some WATER ( like 2 tablespoons) .

• Brush it with some olive oil and sprinkle all your herbs! 

• preheat your oven  to (180 c), bake for 20 minutes and once you take it out of the oven ,  remove it from pan and let it cool  on a wire rack .
• Heat it up before serving .... ENJOY.

La Focaccia

Focaccia (Italian pronunciation:fo ca tsha) is a flat oven-baked Italian bread,which may be topped with herbs or other ingredients. It is related to pizza, but not considered to be the same.
Focaccia is popular in Italy and is usually seasoned with olive oil and salt, and sometimes herbs, and may be topped with onion, cheese and meat, or flavored with a number of vegetables. It is eaten as a snack in Italy and school children will often purchase a slice from a baker's on the way to school, to enjoy at break time.

your dough before rest

Your dough after 15 minutes (without salt)

It should look like this.. sticky sooo sticky.

After the first 30- minute rest

The way you knead your dough

Leave it for 30 minutes

Your final result!

See how PRETTY  is it ?? see these airy  pockets??

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

(makes two 9-inch round loaves)

Biga

1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup (2 2/3 ounces) warm water .

1/4 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast . or 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast.

Dough

2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) warm water .

1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast . Or 2 teaspoons active dry yeast.

1 tablespoon Kosher salt

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves.

Process

1. The day before, combine biga ingredients in a large bowl and stir with a wooden spoon for about 1 minute. You should have a uniform mass with no dry flour.
2. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for at least 8 hours (up to 24 hours).
3. For the dough, stir flour, water, and yeast into the biga with a wooden spoon for about 1 minute. You should have a uniform mass with no dry flour.
4.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 15 minutes.
5. Add 2 teaspoons Kosher salt to dough and stir with wooden spoon about 1 minute.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 30 minutes.
7. Spray rubber spatula with nonstick cooking spray.
8. With rubber spatula, fold dough over itself 8 times as follows:
1. lift an edge of dough with spatula and fold it towards the middle.
2. turn bowl 90 degrees.
3. repeat, repeat, repeat......until you've folded dough over 8 times.
9. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 30 minutes.
10. With rubber spatula, fold dough over itself 8 times as follows:
11.  lift an edge of dough with spatula and fold it towards the middle.turn bowl 90 degrees.repeat, repeat, repeat......until you've folded dough over 8times. 
12. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 30 minutes. 
13. With rubber spatula, fold dough over itself 8 times as follows:lift an edge of dough with spatula and fold it towards the middle.turn bowl 90 degrees.repeat, repeat, repeat... until you've folded dough over 8 times.
14.  Place oven rack in upper middle position. Place baking stone on rack and preheat oven to 500 F. 
15. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 30 minutes. 
16. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface (counter). BE GENTLE! Lightly dust top of dough with flour and divide in half. 
17. Shape each piece into a 5 inch round by GENTLY tucking under edges. 
18. Coat two 9 inch round cake pans with 2 tablespoons olive oil each.
19.  
20. Sprinkle each pan with 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt.
21. Place each round of dough in a pan, top side down. Slide dough around pan to coat with oil and then flip dough over.
22. Cover pans with plastic wrap and let rise 5 minutes at room temperature.
23. Press dough out towards edge of pan with your fingertips. If dough resists, let rest 5-10 minutes and try again.
24. Grab a dinner fork and poke each dough 25-30 times. Make sure you pop any large bubbles.
25. Sprinkle rosemary over top of dough.
26. Let dough rest at room temperature for 5-10 minutes until slightly bubbly.
27. Place pans on baking stone and immediately lower oven temperature to 450 F.
28. Bake until top is golden brown 25-28 minutes. Switch pan placement on stone halfway through.
29. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack 5 minutes.
30. Remove bread from pans and return to wire rack. If any oil remains in pan, brush that on loaves.
31. Cool 30 minutes before serving.                                                  
32. Enjoy !

La Focaccia Italiana ( Italian Focaccia Bread )

                                                         WHAT DO YOU THINK ??

         Since I arrived here in Italy, I have this passion about baking especially bread .
The Italian kitchen is a very rich one ...easy , yet delish !!
Anyway , about Focaccia...I tried a couple of recipes before but this one was the best ever...Let's get baking.


Ingredients:
4 C AP flour
1 1/2 ts salt
1/2 cube yeast or an envelope of dry yeast.
2 - 2 1/4 cups warm water.
1 1/2 TBs olive oil. " I used extra virgin"





Procedure:

 

1.  In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with flour and oil ; stir well to combine. Stir in additional water if needed ( I don't think so ), . When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead  for about 6 minutes.( the dough is a bit sticky i.e well hydrated)
3.  
4. 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 until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. ( first rise) 
5. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface; knead briefly. Pat or roll the dough into a sheet and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.let rise for an hour (second rise)
6. dip your finger in oil and make small dimples like in the photo , sprinkle with kosher salt and rosemary if desired.
7. preheat your oven to 200 degrees ..
8. Bake focaccia in preheated oven for  20 minutes, depending on desired crispness. If you like it moist and fluffy, then you'll have to wait just about 10 minutes. 
9.  Buon Apettitio...