Thursday, April 8, 2010

Garlic & Rosemary Focaccia


When I went to the bakery, I used to wonder how they got the little indentations in the top of the focaccia. I had visions of there being some fancy process, perhaps involving yeast, to get the indented effect. Little did I know until I made my own focaccia that you just poke the indentations in the top with your thumb!


For my recent (or not so recent now!) dinner party, I made a garlic and rosemary focaccia from a recipe by Bill Granger in the May 2007 edition of Delicious magazine. This is how I learned about the shaping of the focaccia. I found the focaccia a very quick and easy bread to make, and there are endless variations that you can make using the same basic recipe, simply by using different toppings. I also thought that the finished product looked professional, as if I had just ducked out to the shops to buy it.

To make this focaccia, you will need:

3 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon honey
7g sachet instant dried yeast
60ml olive oil
1 bulb garlic, broken into cloves and peeled
250ml milk

12 small rosemary sprigs
salt


Sift the flour into a large bowl. Take 2 tablespoons of the flour and place in a small bowl with the honey and 300ml lukewarm water. Whisk to combine, then sprinkle the yeast over the top and whisk again. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes or until the yeast activates.

Add the olive oil and 2 teaspoons of salt to the flour. make a well in the centre of the mixture, and pour the yeast mixture into the well. Mix the ingredients together to form a soft dough, then knead the dough on a floured benchtop for ~ 10 minutes. Place the dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in a cool, dry place to rise for ~ 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.

Lightly oil a 24cm x 36cm baking tray with a rim. Knock the risen dough down into the bowl with your fist, then rest for 5 minutes.

Place the dough onto the oiled tray, and push it out as far as possible with the palm of your hand to make a rough rectangle. Cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise for a further 30 minutes.

While the dough is rising, place the garlic cloves and milk into a small saucepan over medium heat. When the milk is hot, reduce the heat to low and allow the garlic to cook in the milk for 10 minutes. Remove the garlic from the heat, and drain off the milk.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Poke 12 holes in the dough with your thumb, and push rosemary and garlic into each hole. Brush the top of the dough with oil, and sprinkle it with salt.

Bake the focaccia in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 190 degrees Celsius and bake for a further 12-15 minutes until the focaccia is golden brown and risen. Allow the focaccia to cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

Slice and serve!

12 comments:

  1. Oh, this looks wonderful! I made my first focaccia this year and it was the greatest thing...so much fun. The recipe I used (Peter Reinhart) had us dimpling our fingers over the dough...what a riot...I loved just doing that for some reason, just the feel of the dough, and then when it baked and it looked so wonderful that way...well, I need to make that again soon. Yours looks absolutely perfect, I need to poke those kinds of things in mine next time. YUM.

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  2. Yes it really does look like a focaccia you bought from a bakery! I hate working with yeast, but you may have just convinced me to give it another go hahaha!

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  3. Hehe I know what you mean about the indents-I was the same about the ridges on the gnocchi. When I made my first batch years ago I was surprised to learn that they were made using a fork! It looks lovely! :D

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  4. sounds like an impressive dinner party!

    I would love to try focaccia - and would love to have it looking such a gorgeous golden brown colour as yours

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  5. @ Kayte - it's great making bread, isn't it. I love Peter's book - need to use it more.

    Thanks Lazy Cook.

    @ Brenda and Johanna - this focaccia is really easy and is a non-threatening recipe. The only proviso is that the day/room has to be warm enough to activate the yeast - but otherwise, it's no problems.

    @ Lorraine - another mystery solved! Didn't know that one either.

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  6. Your foccacia looks absolutely perfect! I love the golden brown color of the crust!

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  7. I can just imagine the smell as it came out of the oven, wonderful!
    Check out my very special Tiramisu recipe,it's a nice way to finish a light meal.
    Regards
    Chef jules

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  8. So that's how you get the indents! The garlic and rosemary combination sounds divine.

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  9. I love foccacia bread! How cool you made your own!

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  10. I love Foccacia Cake Law and this look yummy! gloria

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  11. It looks fabulous! I love rosemary, so this sounds especially delicious.

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