The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Focaccia

rayel's picture
rayel

Focaccia

Baked focaccia a while back, using small onions that were browned in balsamic vinegar.

Frequent Flyer's picture
Frequent Flyer

Looks very nice and very tasty.

FF

jcking's picture
jcking

You get an A+ in focaccia on your report card.

Jim

rayel's picture
rayel

Thanks Frequent Flyer, positive comments much appreciated. Ray

rayel's picture
rayel

Thanks jim, I crushed the crumb a little, the pizza cutter I used has a curved blade, and a stout rounded handle,(it is to the right in the crumb shot) and is not dull, but not very sharp either.
Ray

flournwater's picture
flournwater

When the crumb recovers from the cutting treatment you describe it's all the more testament to the qualitiy of the foccacia.

Nice job .................

rayel's picture
rayel

 Thanks for the nice comment. In my haste I just wanted to get through it. You know the feeling. This bread did recover well.

Ray

tn gabe's picture
tn gabe

yum! great topping idea. i'm going to try that soon as fresh tomato season is about done for here.

rayel's picture
rayel

Hi Gabe, my field grown tomato supply in our neighborhood has pretty much dried up. I never feel the season is long  enough, but looking back on the tomato salads in one form or another, that we have enjoyed this year, it seems we had a lovely year. Thanks for the nice comment. The idea for these onions is not mine. I hijacked it from a food magazine, that showed either a pizza or foccacia in its pages. No brainer. I also borrowed a cream cheese sauce from Reinhart's American Pie. I brushed that on first then onions, and fontina. Ray

tn gabe's picture
tn gabe

lasts pretty well through october most years depending on frost.

i've done carmelized onions with mixed sweet peppers,  but i really like how the slick slices let the dough rise up around them. i'll probably stick with carmelizing the thick onion slices in a red wine and balsamic reduction! i'm looking at two 25 lb boxes of romas right now, but i'll try and get some pics of what you've inspired when i work through the tomatos.

rayel's picture
rayel

Gabe,I pretty much pushed the whole onion halves well into the dough to protect them. I often carmelize onions, sometimes with a bay leaf in the mix, not sure what effect it has on gentling the flavor, but thought it a  good idea when I came accross it in a recipe. I tried using the whole onion halves because I liked the visual effect. The picture I saw had large and small onions randomly placed, and more of them, which was very striking.

Ray

frankie g's picture
frankie g

I looks beautiful.   Nice crumb holes.

 

Frankie G

FGpizza.com

rayel's picture
rayel

I used 00 flour, It's an Italian brand, can't think of the name at the moment, but saw a bag of it on your bench in the video. This is an overnight ferment, about 18 hrs. I got the recipe for this, a ciabatta, on line, and just added oil. Really wet dough. Thanks again for your nice compliments.

Ray

rayel's picture
rayel

Thanks for the site, looks like fun. Cookies, wow, my biggiest weakness. I baked some chocolate biscotti just last nite,  with cocoa, the darkest of chocolates bars, (90% cocoa, but the recipe wanted 70%), espresso powder,  3 eggs, roasted hazel nuts, and half the brown sugar called for. The result was not too bad, considering the drastic changes. They were not very sweet, and quite hard . I am glad i sliced them thin. I wasn't too surprised at the outcome, halving the sugar quantity made a textural difference in the cookie.

Ray

Schola's picture
Schola

it seems to me that you can put in or on anything you fancy or have left over. Is that right? I am attempting my first ever early tomorrow morning. I am a bit worried about he size and shape of the baking trays I've got. They do't match what my recipe says.

rayel's picture
rayel

Hi Schola, your right anything goes, pretty much. One of my favorites is thin sliced carmelized onions, walnuts, and blue cheese.

Re. having enough dough for the suggested pan size, stretching it too thin is how I managed to mess one up recently. I simply had a lot of toppings and a small amt. of dough, I think 3 cups of flour's worth,  and I was trying for two half sheet pans of pizza, which did not work very well. The dough got really tired of all the stretching, and just gave up. I also incorporated too much of the pan's oil into the dough with all the manipulating.The other part of the disaster was in the baking process itself. Sometimes I just don't get away with all my transgressions. I am hopeful your Focaccia comes out well. Keep us posted. Good luck.   Ray

Schola's picture
Schola

Thanks Rayel for inspiring confidence. Well, I've done it. I'd meant to use fresh rosemary from the garden but at present we are inches deep in snow and it was pitch dark, so I used caraway and fennel seeds instead. So - I've survived, it seems OK and there is something for our lunch too. I've not cut it to look at the crumb yet. 

Next time I won't be so scared. 

rayel's picture
rayel

So Happy it worked for you Schola. It's wonderful when everything just clicks along. It should  be easier, and better in future tries. Enjoy, and send pictures along when you can. Thanks, Ray