Conference turris::cooks

fo KA chia

It's the predecessor of pizza crust.  You appear to have the right idea on how
to use it.  Try brushing it with olive oil and sprinkling herbs, too.

    Can you post a recipe?
    
    Or was it a mix, and if so, where did you get it?
    
    D!

    I obtained my (ready cooked, long life, sealed in aluminium) Focaccia
    from Sainsburys. Alas (for Americans) this is a UK supermarket.
    
    I seem to recall seeing a recipe. It went along the lines of: mix 8oz
    plain flour, with 8 Tbs olive oil, 1 tsp yeast and some some of
    water. Beat, sorry knead, until elastic, then leave to rise to double
    in size. Then mix in a further amount of flour, knead, leave to rise
    again, double in size. Roll out to about 1/4" then whack it in the
    oven. I'm sure I saw more than one recipe. I'll look to night.
    
    However, a couple more questions.
    
    How do you stop the Focaccia from breaking when stuffing it?
    
    and
    
    What are the traditional ways of cutting it for stuffing?
    
    Angus

    
    I just make sandwiches by slicing the foccacia horizontally. Try fresh
    basil, sliced tomatoes and fresh mozarella, toasted. 
    
    

    OK Di, found one, but no 5-spice ;-)
    
    About 400g (14oz) plain flour	2 teaspoons table salt
    30g (1oz) fresh yeast of 1 packet   Coarse sea salt or kosher salt
        active dry yeast, dissolved     *A baking stone or enough quarry*
        in 8 tbs lukewarm water           tiles to line the oven rack  *
    7 tbs olive oil
    4 tbs water
    
       Knead 200g (7oz) flour and all dissolved yeast for 8-10 minutes. Shape
    into ball, place in flour bowl, cover with damp cloth and leave to rest
    in warm place until doubled in size.
       Take risen dough and knead it with remaining flour, 4 tbs olive oil, 4
    tbs water and 2 tsp salt. Knead for at least 8 minutes until dough is
    smooth and elastic.
       Place in flour bowl, cover with damp cloth and leave until doubled in
    bulk. Place baking stone in oven for 30 minutes at 200C/400F/Mark 6:
    Note I don't have such a stone or tiles; I do have a fan oven and
    pizza/baking trays which I heat up; the combination of fan oven and
    trays works very well with pizza crusts, I'll just have to try out the
    Focaccia dough one day.
      Place risen dough on floured paddle or sheet of cardboard, and roll
    into disc about 350mm (14") in diameter and about 6mm (1/4") thick.
    Roughen surface of dough by poking it here and there with your finger
    tips. Pour remaining 3 tbs olive oil over dough, sprinkle with a very
    little coarse salt, slide focaccia onto baking stone (or hot tray).
       Bake for 15 minutes if it is no more than 6mm (1/4") thick. If its
    thick, then cook for 5 or 10 minutes longer. Server hot if possible.
    
       There were some variations on the basic focaccia. One had slices of
    onion pressed into the surface of the dough before being spread with
    olive oil and salt and baked. Another had 2 teaspoons of dried crumbled
    sage (or 10-12 leavs cut up) added in the second kneading, while yet
    another had 2 teaspoons of dried Rosemary (or 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh)
    again added in the second kneading: in both cases the amount of olive
    oil is reduced to 5 tbs; 4 in the dough and 1 sprinkled over the
    focaccia before baking. Finally, a Bolognese variety had 6 rashers of
    well browned and crumbled bacon mixed into the second kneading.
    
    I've never taken much notice of the focaccia in my Italian recipe book, 
    until know. However, the book doesn't go into much detail of what
    delicious things (as mentioned in this conference) one can do with
    focaccia. It is a very nice bread.
    
    NB The book calls for 3 hours for letting the dough rise. Even the
    pizza crust recipe calls for two/three hour rising time. I cheat, as I
    can't wait that long. I add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of sugar to the yeast and
    warm water, and I stick the mixture into the oven and heat it slightly.
    The result is frothy yeast (looking much like a biology experiment)
    that causes my dough to double in size in 15 to 30 minutes. I also beat
    the living day lights out of my pizza dough. Its great fun venting your
    frustrations of Digital by whacking the dough against the work surface
    or pounding it into a falt blob... Ooops, got a little carried away.
    
    Angus

        About 400g (14oz) plain flour       2 teaspoons table salt
        7 tbs olive oil
    
    Ah.  Thanks anyway.  I would never make something with that high a
    fat:carbohydrate ratio!  (14 oz flour = 1400 calories, 7 Tbs oil = 1050
    calories -> fat way more than 30%!)
    
    Sheesh, I'll stick to pizza dough with 2 TBS oil.
    
    D!

    D!, I think salvation may be at hand. The recipe calls for 4 Tbs in the
    actual dough, and the remaining 3 Tbs is sprinkled on the focaccia
    prior to baking. The sage or rosemary focaccia calls for 1 Tbs to be
    sprinkled on prior to baking and 4 Tbs in the dough.
    
    I would start off by ignoring the olive oil sprinkled on to the
    focaccia prior to baking; or just use a brush to brush on a small
    quantity. I would also suspect you can get away with 2 Tbs of olive oil
    in the dough itself. It is, afterall, leavened bread and I bet the
    olive oil is more for flavour than anything else.
    
    As a consolation, Olive oil is unsaturated.
          
    Angus

    Had a GREAT appetizer at an Italian restaurant in the North End
    (Boston) using foccaccia:
    
    Brush focaccia with olice oil, garlic, basil, sprinkle with parmesan
    cheese. Bake.
    Cut up into cubes, toss with a splash of balsamic vinegar, slight
    sprinkle of cheese, cooked shrimp and scallops and a bit more olive
    oil.    
    

    	I've tried a couple versions of Focaccia that I bought at
    	Harry's farmers Maarket, here in Alpharetta, GA.  They make it
    	fresh daily, spreading oil, herbs, etc on it, or as someone here
    	said, putting tomato sauce and cheese on it, like pizza.  I find
    	it goes well with salads, soups, and caseroles (sp?).
    
    	-VT