That fits into my after-work-weeknight schedule? And is almost impossible to mess-up? Sure, why not?
My daughter of nine calls this, "The best bread in the whole world... mmmm!" That's compared, I should note, to the crusty whole grain hearth loaves I usually try to force on her. She is not a fan of the crusty bread. Maybe someday.
Until then, this is the opposite of that... but still in keeping with my fascination with whole grains and sourdough.
Anyway, here's a pic:
And here's a recipe:
Based on the Focaccia recipe in Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads that I originally only used for pizza.
Day 1 - make the dough
350g WW Flour
200g WW starter (mine is 75% hydration)
300g water
1 tsp salt
Up to 1 tsp instant yeast (Not necessary, but if it makes you feel better...)
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
-Mix everything except the oil, knead for 3-4 min
-Add the oil - knead 15 seconds
-Rest 5 min
-Knead 1 min
-Put in an oiled container, cover and refrigerate.
Day 2 - make the Focaccia
About ¼ cup olive oil
Corn meal (optional)
Toppings
-Generously oil a 8x12 Pyrex pan with about half the olive oil. Sprinkle a little corn meal in the pan.
-Take dough out of refrigerator and put it in the pan.
-With oiled fingertips slowly press the dough out to fill the pan (it will be slack so this is usually pretty easy).
-Pour remaining oil over dough, or don't if you're not as big a fan of olive oil as I am.
-Let rise 45 min. if pressed for time, or longer if you can (90 min. is the most time I've ever had).
-Add toppings (I like fresh rosemary, a few shreds of parmesan and mozzarella, and a bit of coarse salt. The one in the pic has cheese, oregano, corn, coarse salt)
-Place pan on middle rack of cold oven. Start oven for 500 F. Bake about 15 min. (depending on how fast your oven heats up).
-Reduce heat to 350 F and bake another 10 min.
-Remove from oven, let cool on rack for a few minutes. I like to throw a little extra mozzarella on to melt as it cools.
The best part? Change almost anything in this recipe and it still works.
I've tried:
-Substituting half whole spelt flour, half whole white wheat flour, half 85% flour, all WW bread flour.
-Preheating a stone and baking just above it at 425 F for 15-20 min.
-Various amounts of instant yeast.
-Various rising times
-Recently refreshed starter, starter that's been in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
-A little sweetener in the dough
It may not come out exactly the same each time, but it's always tasty!
Enjoy
-Marcus
Hey all!
I'd never had focaccia before eating at a little restaurant in Aiken, SC a couple of weeks ago. My husband and I looked at each other in amazement as we devoured the organic WW, flax seed and currant treat. I've never been interested in focaccia because I linked it to thick, doughy pizza and I'm a thin crust person. So I did what any other TFL member would do and searched our website for the perfect recipe where I found Marcus. I've made this twice. Once, replicating our restaurant experience - I eliminated the corn meal, substituted canola for the olive oil, and worked 2-tbl flax seed and 2-tbl currants into the dough before putting in refrigerator. Otherwise, follow Marcus' directions. Today, I again eliminated the corn meal, substituted canola for the olive oil, and worked 1/2 cup dried cherries and 1/2 cup chocolate chips into the dough. I didn't use quite as much oil by not pouring more over the dough before baking. About 1/8 of a cup in the bottom of the pan was the only additional oil that I used. This is a very versatile recipe and I love the crumb. Not doughy. Just a nice soft crumb as you see pictured in Marcus' post. I didn't take any pictures - what you see in Marcus' shot is what you get. Just work outside the box!
I agree with your daughter Marcus - this is the best! And so easy ....
Thanks Marcus,
Sharon
Thanks Sharon, currants sound like a wonderful addition! I haven't made this in a while (too obsessed with pizza lately) but I think it's going to have to come back into the rotation.
Marcus
This is very tempting, Marcus! I wonder how sour it would be considering the immediate retadation of the dough. But if you say its tasty, then i believe you!
Thanks, Khalid, it's been a while since Ive baked this but I don't remember much sourness. I think the olive oil and toppings overpower any really distinct sourdough flavor, depending on how you make it , of course. I'll have to try again and refresh my memory.
Marcus
Khalid,
I think it would depend on your starter. My starter is WW - 100% hydration that I made from dried Northwest Sourdough starter. It is a nice, very active starter that to me, smells like walking into a beer pub (not that I frequent pubs). When I made focaccia the first time, I retarded the dough as Marcus does. My husband liked it, although a little too sour for me when mixed with flax seed and currants. But I think it had more to do with the starter than the recipe. When I made focaccia the second time, I did not retard the dough and baked the same day. No strong sour taste this time and no change in the rise or baking results as I made the dough several hours after feeding and my starter was very active. With "my" starter I don't need to develop additional flavor and I didn't feel sour (beer), chocolate, and cherries were a good mix. Additional sour would probably be good for a pizza though. I think you'll just need to experiment. But the recipe is super easy and well worth trying ...
Sharon
This was the first time making WW focaccia. I used generic whole wheat flour and triple checked all the ingredients. I used a 100% starter in good shape. The dough was super loose given the measurements. I had to add more WW flour (teaspoons at a time) until it had the consistency that was acceptable. After autolysing, some slap and folds (4-5 hours total), I put it in the fridge overnight. It had gluten structure but still high moisture. Since it was in a pan, shaping didn't matter. Garlic slivers and red pepper flakes. The only change I would have made....use 80% of the water (not in the starter) and add more as needed when mixing the dough in the very beginning.