More Cheese More Chocolate

Well, that didn’t take long.  It was only yesterday that I posted my 31 things to make in 2011, and I’ve already knocked one thing off the list.  Truth be told, I was actually in the process of making focaccia when I came up with the idea to post a list on my blog, but it’s still one item that I finally got around to making.  And it was wonderful!

I have fond memories of eating large pieces of focaccia and calling it a meal when I was traveling through Italy in college, and every time I’ve eaten it since then I’ve told myself that I should try making it.  I’ve bookmarked focaccia recipes in two of my favorite cookbooks, but the two-day process or the need to boil potatoes has always held me back.  I realize how totally ridiculous that is, considering the fact that I’ve made plenty of breads that require an overnight rise, and there is nothing scary about boiling potatoes.  For some reason, though, I always move on to the next thing, and usually the next thing is pizza, which is more or less focaccia minus the loads of olive oil.

While I was working on the post for German-style pretzels I had the January issue of Food + Wine next to me, and as I was thumbing through it I came across a focaccia recipe.  Unlike the other recipes that I’d been considering, this version could be made in three hours and didn’t require any potatoes.  Sold!  It was actually a recipe for caramelized onion, pear, and blue cheese focaccia, but I simplified it and topped it with coarse sea salt & cracked pepper so it wouldn’t detract from the lobster that we ate it with (more on that soon).  It was pure heaven.  Pure oily, salty heaven.

Basic Focaccia

From Food + Wine, January 2011

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/4 tsp yeast
• 1/2 tsp honey
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour)
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• Coarse sea salt and freshly cracked pepper for sprinkling

1. Combine the water, yeast, and honey in a large bowl.  Let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Add 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup oil to the yeast mixture.  Let stand for 5 minutes.
3. Add the remaining flour and salt, stir to combine, and then knead until smooth.  Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand for an hour (I let it rise for almost two hours with no problems)
4. Preheat the oven to 450.  Oil a 9×13″ rimmed baking sheet, and transfer the dough to the baking sheet, pressing it to the edges.  Use your fingers to make dimples in the dough, and drizzle it with 2 tbsp of olive oil.  Let the dough rise for about 20 minutes.
5. Drizzle the remaining 2 tbsp of oil over the dough (it will seem like a lot of oil, but most of it gets absorbed during the baking process) and bake for about 20 minutes, until golden.

A few more things:

• Leftover focaccia is great for salami + cheese sandwiches.
• I should have broadened my search when looking for focaccia recipes before, as it seems that most are simpler than the ones I was focused on. See: [Elizabeth's let's make focaccia!] [Easy, Homemade Focaccia from Noble Pig] [Olive Focaccia from Pioneer Woman]
• There is a lot of focaccia in my future.