Tag Archives: focaccia

The Great Toaster Oven Experiment: Focaccia

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Continuing with alternative baking methods/bread, I decided to attempt focaccia. Spoiler alert: not perfect, but perfectly acceptable in a pinch.

In my search for a suitably-sized vehicle, I discovered that out of the dozen or so bread/loaf pans accumulated in decades of marriage — this not being the first for either of us, though that may not explain the excessive number — only one actually fits in the toaster oven.

Dimensions, for anyone else who is oven-less, or wants to give this a try (the rest of you can enjoy a short snooze):

  • Length: Exterior including handles 9.75″/25 cm; interior 8.25″/21 cm
  • Width: Exterior 5″/12.25 cm; interior 4.25″/11cm
  • Height: 2.5″/6.5 cm

Ingredients

(Dough)

  • 1 cup warm water (not too hot; you don’t want to cook the yeast)
  • 1 teaspoon dry yeast
  • 2- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon (more or less) extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

(Topping)

  • 12 pitted olives, Kalamata or Castelvetrano, as you prefer, sliced
  • 1-2 tablespoons EVOO
  • 1-2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried)
  • Kosher salt or fleur de sel

Method

  1. Place warm water in a bowl. Sprinkle the dry yeast, stir and let it dissolve for about 10 minutes.
  2. Add 2 cups of flour and 1 tsp salt to the bowl and stir. The dough will be sticky.
  3. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes. Add more flour as needed. Shape dough into a ball.
  4. Pour a little olive oil into your bowl, add the dough, and roll it around until it’s lightly coated.
  5. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm area until doubled, approx. 1 1/2 hours. (First rise)
  6. Punch it down, knead into a ball, return to the bowl, cover with plastic and let it rise in a warm place until doubled. This takes about 45 minutes. (Second rise)
  7. Pour a small amount of olive oil into your loaf pan and spread it around to coat the inside.
  8. Once the second rise is finished, punch it down lightly, transfer it to the loaf pan and let it rest for 10 minutes.
  9. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the top of the dough. Sprinkle with chopped rosemary and add the olives on top. Let it rise uncovered for about 25 minutes. (Third rise).
  10. Using your fingertips, press indentations into the surface of the dough. The oil will pool in the indentations. Sprinkle lightly with coarse salt
  11. Bake at 450 degrees F (230C I think?) for about 15-20 minutes. Mine began to burn at 20 so keep an eye on it!
  12. Serve warm with more olive oil. Adding garlic and herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme) to the oil is even better.

For the Love of Carbs #2

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Bread class continued with good spirits and much laughter, as we embarked on focaccia, ciabatta and a new method of making sourdough.

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Is that apprehension I’m sensing?

First up, some brave souls brought in their starters for Abby to evaluate. We learned that a starter is ready to use if a small bit floats when immersed in water. Sadly, most of our efforts sank like a stone. (Cue “My heart will go on”.)

To make both focaccia and ciabatta, you begin with a “poolish”, which is pronounced poo-leash rather than rhyming with “foolish” which is how we felt about our sinking non-starters. This is essentially another type of starter that is ready much faster and keeps the dough nice and airy.

Abby kept us on a strict schedule so we could bake these during class. Unfortunately, my benchmate and I made the crucial mistake of flouring the tops of our ciabattas, not realizing they’d be flipped over. (Or possibly not paying attention?) And I opted not to cut the dough into rolls, ending up with a pale loaf bearing more than a passing resemblance to a manatee.

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Ciabatta in the oven

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Abby suspects they’re not quite ready.

Our focaccias weren’t much prettier, being pancake-flat. But despite their wonky appearance, both breads were pretty tasty.

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Focaccia resembling paddleboards

The big excitement of the evening came when we learned a new technique that brought out our inner dominatrix. Abby had e-mailed us a video to get us “in the mood”. It’s called the slap and fold method, or, as my friend S dubbed it, Food Porn: You slap your dough on the counter, stretch it up and slap it down again. After about 5 minutes the dough is ready to rest, and so are you.

Who knew that bread making had a racy side? Or that my wardrobe needs a black leather apron?!

                                  (Above, clockwise: focaccia at home – I added rosemary -, ciabatta, sourdough.)

I can only imagine what’s in store for us this week. Stay tuned, dear friends.

Delicious Wishes for the Holidays

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To celebrate this season of giving and sharing, I’m passing along an old favorite.  May your holiday and New Year be filled with health, happiness, good cheer and everything you find meaningful. xo, Alisa

Focaccia with olives and rosemary

Bon Appétit |  May 1995

This recipe was inspired by one from olive oil expert Lidia Colavita. You can make a meal around the bread by offering it as an accompaniment to bean soup.

Serves 8.

Ingredients

2 cups warm water (105°F; to 115°F;)
2 teaspoons dry yeast
4 1/2 cups (about) all purpose flour
2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons olive oil
24 black or green brine-cured olives (such as Kalamata or Greek),
pitted, halved
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried

Preparation

Place 2 cups warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle dry yeast over; stir with fork. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 10 minutes.Add 4 1/4 cups flour and salt to yeast mixture and stir to blend well (dough will be sticky). Knead dough on floured surface until smooth and elastic, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is sticky, about 10 minutes. Form dough into ball. Oil large bowl; add dough, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down dough; knead into ball and return to same bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, about 45 minutes or less

Coat 15×10-inch baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil. Punch down dough. Transfer to prepared sheet. Using fingertips, press out dough to 13×10-inch rectangle. Let dough rest 10 minutes. Drizzle 2 tablespoons oil over dough. Sprinkle olives and chopped rosemary evenly over. Let dough rise uncovered in warm area until puffy, about 25 minutes.

Preheat oven to 475°F. Press fingertips all over dough, forming indentations. Bake bread until brown and crusty, about 20 minutes. Serve bread warm or at room temperature.