Droppin' Loaves: A Bread Blog
Focaccia flop
Posted: 2011 Jan 03 (Mon) 00:55 UTC
I ate some focaccia bread at a restaurant New Year's Eve night. I figured it was time to give that type of bread a shot. How hard can it be? I found a few recipes online, and they all agreed for the most part. I was going to make the full recipe that I selected, but then I noticed I didn't have anywhere near enough all-purpose flour. So I split it in half.
- 1 tsp. yeast
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 3/4 c. warm water
- 3 c. 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ tbsp. olive oil
- 1/3 onion
- 2 tsp. rosemary
I was reluctant to use nothing but all-purpose, but I thought the olive oil would add a lot of flavor to make up for it. I mixed everything in a plastic bowl with a wooden spoon then dug my hands in it. It looked really dry, but I went on kneading, figuring they knew what they were talking about. But I wasn't convinced after a couple minutes, so I added a splash of water from the tap. That did the trick and after 10 rough minutes of kneading -- I've decided to start kneading again -- I got a good elastic ball.
I let it sit for 2 hours on the kitchen counter. It was a bit cool today, so I let it go a little longer. I coated a baking pan with olive oil then spread the dough out on it, filling all the corners. With my finger, I made indentions all over and let it rise for another 10 minutes. I chopped the yellow onion and some rosemary from the pot on my back steps. I spread it out on the dough and poured some more olive oil on top. I sprinkled some more salt on that. I wasn't sure how much to use, so I might have been a little sparing. When time was up, I popped the sheet into the preheated oven (425°F) for something like 20 minutes.
I took it out and let it cool. It looks like a pizza crust. The recipe said to make sure it's not too brown. It is. Also, it didn't rise as much as maybe it should have. I cut it to try some. Menh. White ass bread with no large holes. The only thing that makes me want to eat it is the sea salt on top (which is quite yummy).
This can't be right. It's so white inside. It tastes like it needs more olive oil. And it definitely needs more toppings. The onion shriveled away and the rosemary, though I can see it, is very faint. I guess I'll keep trying. Maybe I can look at more recipes and get a better sense of what to do.
