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 Submitted by wassisname on June 8, 2010 - 8:32pm Whole Wheat Sourdough Focaccia
That fits into my after-work-weeknight schedule? And is almost impossible to mess-up? Sure, why not? My daughter of nine calls this, "The best bread in the whole world... mmmm!" That's compared, I should note, to the crusty whole grain hearth loaves I usually try to force on her. She is not a fan of the crusty bread. Maybe someday. Until then, this is the opposite of that... but still in keeping with my fascination with whole grains and sourdough. Anyway, here's a pic: And here's a recipe: Based on the Focaccia recipe in Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads that I originally only used for pizza. Day 1 - make the dough 350g WW Flour 200g WW starter (mine is 75% hydration) 300g water 1 tsp salt Up to 1 tsp instant yeast (Not necessary, but if it makes you feel better...) 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
-Mix everything except the oil, knead for 3-4 min -Add the oil - knead 15 seconds -Rest 5 min -Knead 1 min -Put in an oiled container, cover and refrigerate.
Day 2 - make the Focaccia About ¼ cup olive oil Corn meal (optional) Toppings
-Generously oil a 8x12 Pyrex pan with about half the olive oil. Sprinkle a little corn meal in the pan. -Take dough out of refrigerator and put it in the pan. -With oiled fingertips slowly press the dough out to fill the pan (it will be slack so this is usually pretty easy). -Pour remaining oil over dough, or don't if you're not as big a fan of olive oil as I am. -Let rise 45 min. if pressed for time, or longer if you can (90 min. is the most time I've ever had). -Add toppings (I like fresh rosemary, a few shreds of parmesan and mozzarella, and a bit of coarse salt. The one in the pic has cheese, oregano, corn, coarse salt) -Place pan on middle rack of cold oven. Start oven for 500 F. Bake about 15 min. (depending on how fast your oven heats up). -Reduce heat to 350 F and bake another 10 min. -Remove from oven, let cool on rack for a few minutes. I like to throw a little extra mozzarella on to melt as it cools.
The best part? Change almost anything in this recipe and it still works. I've tried: -Substituting half whole spelt flour, half whole white wheat flour, half 85% flour, all WW bread flour. -Preheating a stone and baking just above it at 425 F for 15-20 min. -Various amounts of instant yeast. -Various rising times -Recently refreshed starter, starter that's been in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. -A little sweetener in the dough It may not come out exactly the same each time, but it's always tasty! Enjoy -Marcus
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Great, easy, easy recipe ...
Hey all!
I'd never had focaccia before eating at a little restaurant in Aiken, SC a couple of weeks ago. My husband and I looked at each other in amazement as we devoured the organic WW, flax seed and currant treat. I've never been interested in focaccia because I linked it to thick, doughy pizza and I'm a thin crust person. So I did what any other TFL member would do and searched our website for the perfect recipe where I found Marcus. I've made this twice. Once, replicating our restaurant experience - I eliminated the corn meal, substituted canola for the olive oil, and worked 2-tbl flax seed and 2-tbl currants into the dough before putting in refrigerator. Otherwise, follow Marcus' directions. Today, I again eliminated the corn meal, substituted canola for the olive oil, and worked 1/2 cup dried cherries and 1/2 cup chocolate chips into the dough. I didn't use quite as much oil by not pouring more over the dough before baking. About 1/8 of a cup in the bottom of the pan was the only additional oil that I used. This is a very versatile recipe and I love the crumb. Not doughy. Just a nice soft crumb as you see pictured in Marcus' post. I didn't take any pictures - what you see in Marcus' shot is what you get. Just work outside the box!
I agree with your daughter Marcus - this is the best! And so easy ....
Thanks Marcus,
Sharon
So glad to hear it worked!
Thanks Sharon, currants sound like a wonderful addition! I haven't made this in a while (too obsessed with pizza lately) but I think it's going to have to come back into the rotation.
Marcus
This is very tempting,
This is very tempting, Marcus! I wonder how sour it would be considering the immediate retadation of the dough. But if you say its tasty, then i believe you!
Sour, hmmm...
Thanks, Khalid, it's been a while since Ive baked this but I don't remember much sourness. I think the olive oil and toppings overpower any really distinct sourdough flavor, depending on how you make it , of course. I'll have to try again and refresh my memory.
Marcus
re: sour
Khalid,
I think it would depend on your starter. My starter is WW - 100% hydration that I made from dried Northwest Sourdough starter. It is a nice, very active starter that to me, smells like walking into a beer pub (not that I frequent pubs). When I made focaccia the first time, I retarded the dough as Marcus does. My husband liked it, although a little too sour for me when mixed with flax seed and currants. But I think it had more to do with the starter than the recipe. When I made focaccia the second time, I did not retard the dough and baked the same day. No strong sour taste this time and no change in the rise or baking results as I made the dough several hours after feeding and my starter was very active. With "my" starter I don't need to develop additional flavor and I didn't feel sour (beer), chocolate, and cherries were a good mix. Additional sour would probably be good for a pizza though. I think you'll just need to experiment. But the recipe is super easy and well worth trying ...
Sharon