Tag: focaccia

A Simple Onion Focaccia

by A.J. Coltrane

The current go-to focaccia. This is the one I make when I have three hours to prepare something — short notice by bread standards.

The Recipe:

1.  Finely slice 100g of onion. (Red onion, sweet onion, scallions, bunch onions — they all work.) Lightly saute the onion in 100g (7  TBP) of extra virgin olive oil. The idea is to remove the rawness from the onion and to impart that flavor into the oil. Let the oil cool for a few minutes, until the pan is no longer hot to the touch. 64g of the oil is used in the dough, below:

Ingredient Quantity Bakers %
Bread Flour 800g 100
Water 600g 75
Ex Virgin Olive Oil 64g 8
Kosher Salt 20g 2.50
Instant Yeast 2 tsp
Thinly Sliced Onion ~100g

2.  Combine all ingredients in a KitchenAid and mix with the dough hook, low speed for 15 minutes.

3.  Place parchment paper in a 13″ x 18″ sheet pan, leaving enough to go up the sides and hang over a little. Very lightly oil the parchment paper, then scrape the dough out onto the parchment.

4.  Oil your fingers and gently stretch the dough towards the edges of the sheet tray. It doesn’t have to go all the way to the edges. It will settle somewhat towards the edges on its own.

5.  Cover the dough for 1:45. At the 1:45 mark turn the oven to 425F. Oil your fingers again and dimple the dough. Spread the onion and remaining olive oil over the top of the dough.

6. When the oven is hot, bake the focaccia for 15 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for another 15 minutes.

140128 focaccia

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Notes:

Halving the recipe will work. Reduce the pan size and the baking time to a total of about 24 minutes.

The crumb has a relatively fine texture, inspired by this Rose Levy Beranbaum recipe. The Beranbaum recipe calls for a very long mixing time (basically 20-30 minutes on medium speed) and an even larger amount of water.

One nice thing about making a focaccia for company rather than a leaner bread, is that the extra oil helps prevent staling while it’s sitting around.

..aaaand… Bonus Girl Cat Pic!

Everybody loves playing in packing paper
Everybody loves playing in packing paper

Focaccia. Simple.

by A.J. Coltrane

Making rustic breads is easy. Focaccia is even easier. The recent-high-school-graduate niece made the loaf below, with very little coaching.

focaccia 061513

This became one of two caprese sandwiches for GNOIF. (She made both breads.) Both of the breads were devoured in no time.

The ingredients are essentially the same as for the No Knead Bread, with extra-virgin olive oil added to the mix — 400 grams AP Flour, 300 grams water, 8 grams kosher salt, 1/4 tsp instant yeast, and 1-1/2 TBP olive oil. (75% hydration and 2% salt by weight. Most of the time I use the scale if it’s baking related. It’s just as fast as measuring cups and the results are way more consistent.)

Everything gets combined in the Kitchenaid and mixed on low speed with the paddle attachment for 8 minutes. Cover the dough with plastic wrap for 18-24 hours. The next day, line a sheet tray with parchment paper and add a light coat of extra virgin olive oil, about 1-2 tablespoons. Scrape the dough out onto the parchment and spread it out to near the corners of the tray. (It doesn’t have to be perfect, the dough will fix itself.) Let rise 1-1/2 to 2 hours until poofy. When the dough is almost ready to go, preheat the oven to 425 F. Spread about 2 tablespoons of oil over the top of the dough and dimple the top with your fingers. (Oiled fingers help keep the dough from sticking as much.) Place the tray in the oven and bake 22-25 minutes. Let cool in the tray.

focaccia sliced 061513

We sliced this loaf width-wise. Both sides were lightly coated with basil pesto. (Yay Earthbox basil!) We splurged on heirloom tomatoes, which were “drained” and thinly sliced and chopped. The sandwich was finished with fresh mozzarella that had been thinly sliced and squished between paper towels until most of the moisture was pressed out.

Easy! I’m sure that one out of one nieces would agree.