Topic: focaccia

[GREENWIZARD]

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[Mrs Ava]

hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

I have Paul Hollywoods bread book, will check it out and see if he has a recipe!

hahahahahahaa

[Mrs Ava]

Having never made it, no idea how hard it is to do, but this is Paul Hollywoods recipe for Basil and Olive focaccia.

1Ib2oz strong white flour
1 tablespoon salt
3 1/2 fl oz olive oil
1oz yeast
1/2 pint water
4 oz black olives, pitted but whole
handful freshly torn basil
salt water made with 1oz salt dissolved in 3 1/2 fl oz warm water

Put flour, salt, half the oil, yeast and water into a large bowl and mix with your hand for 3 mins until all the flour has been picked up.

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead well for 6 mins.  The dough should be quite sticky.  Put the dough back into the bowl and leave at room temp for 2 hours.

line a baking tray.  Mix 3 1/2 oz of the olives and all of the basil into the dough, then flatten the dough out onto the baking tray to about 1 inch thick.  Brush teh top with a little olive oil and make indentations with your fingers.  Leave to rise for an hour.

Preheat oven 230@/450@gas 8.  Brush the top of the dough with the salt water and drizzle on remaining olive oil then stud with remaining olives.

bake for 25 mins until golden brown.


Sounds wonderful.  I might try this this afternoon!

[Debs]

Now that does sound nice..and would go down a treat for tea :P

Debs

[wardy]

I know how you feel greenwizard.  I once made a cake that took about three days to finish (should have read the flaming recipe first which must have warned that this cake takes 3 days to make, plus you will need two turntables and 50 icing nozzles etc)  It was quite funny actually as this cake had to be made in stages so I kept having a tipple whilst waiting for the next stage.  I was quite tipsy when it got to putting the cakes on to my homemade turntables (cereal bowl with dinner plate on top) and when I rotated em to do the icing the cakes kept falling off!!! Ah dear.  They were, of course, inedible by the time I'd finished.  Never again

Hope your garden birds don't have bent beaks  ;D

[Moggle]

Have no idea what this would turn out, but it looked yummy when jamie Oliver made it on the telly:

 
Focaccia with Rosemary and Olive Oil Topping

1 oz. fresh yeast or 3/4 oz. active dry yeast
2 tablespoons honey (or sugar)
Just over 2 cups tepid water
Just over 1 lb. bread flour (3 1/2 to 4 cups)
Just over 1 lb. durum semolina flour
2 tablespoons salt
Some extra flour and semolina for dusting

Stage 1: Dissolve the yeast and honey (or sugar) in half the tepid water.

Stage 2: On your largest available clean surface (even a big bowl will do if surfaces are limited), make a pile of flour in the center of the flour, semolina flour, and salt. With one hand, make a well in the center. (If possible, it is preferable to warm the flour and semolina flour.)

Stage 3: Pour all the dissolved yeast mixture into the well and with four fingers of one hand make circular movements, from the center working outward, slowly bringing in more and more of the dry ingredients until all the yeast mixture is soaked up. Then pour the other half of the tepid water into the center and gradually incorporate all the flour to make a moist dough. (Certain flours may need a little more water, so don't be afraid to adjust the quantities.)

Stage 4: Kneading! This is the best bit, just rolling, pushing and folding the dough over and over for 5 minutes. This develops the structure of the dough and the gluten. If any of the dough sticks to your hands, just rub them together with a little extra flour.

(You can do Stages 2, 3 and 4 in an electric mixer if you like, using the dough hook attachment.)

Stage 5: Flour both your hands now, and lightly flour the top of the dough. Make it into a roundish shape and place on a baking tray. Score the dough with a knife--this allows it to relax and proof (rise) more quickly.

Stage 6: Leave the bread to rise for the first time. Basically, we want it to double in size. (This is probably the best time to preheat the oven: 475 degrees F for focaccia.) You want a warm, moist, draft-free place for the quickest rise, for example near the stove, or just in a warm room. You can cover with plastic wrap if you want to speed it up. This process matures the flour flavor and should take approximately 40 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on the conditions.

Stage 7: Right, it's double the size and time to punch it down. Knead and punch the dough, knocking all the air out of it, for about a minute. Then split the dough into half or quarters. Roll or push it out to an oval shape roughly 11/3 cm/ (1/2-inch) thick; don't fuss around for perfection, it's supposed to be rough and rustic, so what a great excuse for a beginner! Place on a baking tray liberally dusted with semolina flour.

Make your rosemary and olive oil topping by bashing and bruising a handful of rosemary and 3 cloves of garlic using a rolling pin. Mix together with some olive oil and salt, and squeeze mixture over the bread. Finally, make those characteristic holes by pushing all you fingers deep into the dough many times, which allows the flavor of the topping to penetrate. Leave to proof for 45 minutes until about 3cm 1 1/4 inches) high.

Bake for about 15 minutes at your oven's highest temperature until ready. As soon as the focaccia comes out of the oven feed it with a good drizzle of olive oil and a light scattering of sea salt. You can eat the focaccia as soon as it has slightly cooled.

[Svea]

hmm, this reminds me of holidays in italy ...:)

[Mrs Ava]

Stage one made.  Currently resting in the bowl for 2hours.  ;D

[GREENWIZARD]

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[NattyEm]

Pauk Hollywood always makes breadmaking look so easy.....well it is easy...but he makes it look completely effortless!  Think I'll have to get the girls to help me make that tomorrow. yum.  How did it turn out Emma?

[Mrs Ava]

Well.......................bl**dy yeast was no good!  My own fault really, the last packet of the quickie stuff that I have in the larder for times when I haven't been to the supermarket and got some fresh in.  hehehehe.  Mind you, it was easy to do, so I will get some at the weekend and give it another go.

[NattyEm]

Doh just looked in cupboard and 'only' have malted bread flour, wholemeal bread flour, pasta flour, normal plain flour, normal sr flour, a teeny bit of hovis granary flour, a cheese and tomato bread mix (that hubby bought not me) and a sunflower seedy flour, since I make white bread so rarely.