While making some Lebanese lentil soup and baba ganoush for yesterday's dinner I discovered I also needed to make some bread. A quick search found King Arthur's Blitz Bread: No-Fuss Focaccia. Since most of the bread I make takes 12 hours or more, I didn't have much faith in the end product of a less than 2 hour process, but thought I'd give it a shot.
I modified the recipe a bit (25% white whole wheat, 83% hydration, and a 10" x 15" pan). Since I don't have a mixer, I just stirred the dough vigorously with a wooden spoon. The result was really surprising. Nice texture, not bad crumb, and a mild flavor which was helped by a generous topping of Za'atar. And the process was so easy, no stretch and folds, no multiple rises, no proof-timing worries, no Dutch oven or steam making. I did put the bread back in the oven for a few minutes, after taking it out of the pan, to crisp up the bottom.
Many variations come to mind which I'll try in the future.
Jim
for sure. Just think how great this bread would be with your usual 12 hour process? A lot better I'm guessing but this one was plenty good enough for such a nice dinner and the dinner would have been lacking without it.
Well done and happy baking
Thanks for your comment. It was actually fun to be able to knock out a bread in short order that went with the dinner. And at 10" x 15" it looked substantial. The family enjoyed it, though the dog was put off by the Za'atar.