This week's Baking with Julia challenge is Foccacia, and our host is Sharmini of Wandering Through.
I made only a third of the recipe because I didn't want all of that bread just lying around. I sprinkled my foccacia with dried tarragon, as fresh herbs are expensive, and Persian blue salt that I bought out of curiosity at Gewurzhaus. In the end, it didn't taste any different to ordinary salt.
The author kept talking about the bubbles in the dough, and there certainly were lots of those, although the dough didn't rise much in the oven:
On day 1, the foccacia was delicious - crisp and chewy and flavoursome. However, the foccacia didn't last well, and tasted stale the next day, which was a little disappointing.
To see what the other bakers thpught of this recipe, visit the LYL section of the Baking With Julia website.
26 comments:
What a delicious looking focaccia :D
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks for posting. I have yet to make this. I think I may not. I have a yummy Rosemary Loaf that I know is good and it's easy. Maybe I'll stick with that.
It looks great! I wonder if toasting it the next day would be good? Or was it too hard? :S
I could never make that!
I reheated the 2nd day and it was delicious. And I think bread flour on this type of recipe keeps better through the week...my opinion. Your focaccia does look lovely!
I have always thought of foccacia as something that doesn't last well, so perhaps you made a particularly authentic version? It's a pity it didn't go beyond one day but does look very impressive.
Focaccia sprinkled with dried terragon and Persian blue salt certainly sounds intriguing! I love the versatility of Focaccia and your looks wonderful!
Have a great Tuesday!
Focaccia is best right out of the oven I think. It looks great though! I once bought a pink salt that was just like table salt, I think they added coloring and sold it like some sophisticated thing!
Mine didn't have an abundance of bubbles, but tasted great. I made 1/3 of the batch, too :)
Never heard of Persian blue salt... interesting ...
Thanks for baking along!
I've found that focaccia really doesn't last that long, and any time I reheat it, it just gets hard and dry. Smart idea making only a third of the recipe! Wish I'd done that. It certainly looks tasty with the topping though! Nice job!
I agree that, as with most breads, this one was best on day one. On day two, I smothered it with sauce and cheese and it made a fine pizza. By day three, it was done.
I patted a bit of water onto my leftover focaccia, wrapped it in foil and put it in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes. It tasted great! A trick my mother-in-law taught me years ago to revive stale bread.
Your focaccia looks perfect! Glad you enjoyed it!
Mine was best right out of the oven but I am using some for toast and the other for pizza. Not a favorite for me.
I used dried oregano and fresh rosemary. I put the dried in the olive oil to soften it up. I think it works just as well as fresh. I did like the Focaccia I tried from the Baked cookbook. (and it was a lot quicky than this one)
Yes, my focaccia did not rise much in the oven either or keep well. It seems to be an eat it right away kind of food. Your toppings sound good.
Agreed. Mine didn't rise much either but it had plenty of bubbles!
Same results here. I have made focaccia before, without the 24 hour rise, better results. I still liked this recipe, it you need to eat it the same day.
Persian blue salt sounds very exotic. Your focaccia looks really good, I read somewhere that lighter/fluffier bread gets stale more quickly, so maybe it's a kind of compliment for your focaccia?
It was definitely best the first day. The blue salt is neat!
Love your idea of using dried tarragon as a topping on the focaccia, we used thyme and rosemary. Curious about the Persian salt though, is it in any way similar to the Himalaya salt? Will have to give it a try in the future. Great post.
Tarragon sounds delicious on this and I think I would have bought that salt just on the name alone. Sorry that yours didn't hold up in flavor the second day. I really like your photo that shows all the lovely bubbles.
Focaccia is definitely better the first day. Tarragon would be an interesting herb to try on it.
Mine was pretty good the next day reheated for about 5 minutes, but it was phenomenal the first day. I made the whole batch and took a lot to work. Gone! I did have quite a bit of oven rise. Not sure why. Bread is a mystery!
Wow, you did get a lot of bubbles...that looks delicious. I'm with you, one is only tempted beyond reason when there is homemade bread around.
your foccacia looks great - shame it didn't last well but just as well you downsized the recipe
I am fascinated by the salts at gewurzhaus - I've fallen in love with the french lavender salt and quite like the smoked salts - would like to try more but how many salts can I have around the house!
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