March 4, 2011 - 11:15am
My first Focaccia
I've never made a Focaccia before so thought I'd try the one in BBA. Instead of the poolish I used my starter which I left overnight. I also 1/2'd the recipe...
It tastes very good - and looks pretty - but I'm not sure if it's too 'bready' looking - is it supposed to have big 'ciabatta' like holes?
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I think your foccacia looks great and looks "right" in my eyes.
Foccacia to me should be a little bready, soft and spongy, like thick deep-dish pizza crust, with not too many big holes.
Thanks Cranbo ...you're right there - it is very much like the pizza edges - my favorite part of the pizza :)
I'm having it with fresh pasta tonight..I think it will 'sop' up the extra sauce. It is anemic looking thou...I put the parmesian on too soon in the baking and couldn't take the chance it would burn .. I'll know better for the next one!
Translucency is difficult to judge but the crumb looks pretty good and it appears to be about 1 inch in height so I'd say you've got a winner here.
Looks good. As I always say to my wife when she makes negative comments about my bread and foccacias, "how does it taste?". The answer is GOOD! That's all that counts.
PS: Her comments are usually made with a mouth full of bread and always the heels.
Logged on after I started my first focaccia to see if there was any advice to be had here (not really looking for anything in particular, just feeling a little hesitant) and saw your thread. So I thought I'd share my first one with you as well:
From Focaccia
It hasn't cooled enough to cut yet, but it smells great! Mine is also from the BBA, but I used the version that refrigerates the shaped dough overnight instead of using a pre-ferment.
I'll update when I've had a chance to taste.
LisaAlissa
Yum. I think I'll try a little less oil during the dimpling process next time, but it's definitely good enough to do again!
Comments or suggestions anyone?
Thanks!
LisaAlissa
I frequently slather mine with garlic and herb oil, its yummy.
I'm going to split it and add caprese ingredients (fresh mozarella, tomato, basil & olive oil), then cut into nibbles for an after-church coffee hour. I'll assemble tomorrow, but hope the bread will hold overnight.
LisaAlissa
I think it'll hold. The oil will take care of that aspect.
Your reference to using less oil the next time strikes home with me. My first foccacia, based on a well know professional baker/writer's instructions, was far too oily for my taste. I still use the formula but I've cut the oil in half. I like it a lot better.
Your foccacia looks very good and it's understandable that you didn't include toppings if you're using it for making the caprese (open face or sandwiches?) for your group. That said, do it again with some toppings. Kosher salt, oregano, thyme, basil. garlic (your choices). You'll love it.
You're right, the bread did hold up overnight. And the caprese sandwiches were a hit. I cut the foccacia into fourths, split three of them (I kept the other fourth for me), added the fillings and spiked them together with toothpicks and then cut each of those fourths into twelve nibble-size sandwiches (about 2x2 inches).
I'm pleased to to hear that cutting down the oil was sucessful for you--I'll be trying to follow in your footsteps on that!
Thanks!
LisaAlissa
This was my first Focaccia and boy did we love it. I planted an herb garden just so we would have plenty of fresh rosmary, basil, sage and garlic chives for the bread as well as our dipping oil.
Focaccia Bread
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Focaccia_Bread
Note: I changed the “Procedure” to fit my bread machine.
Ingredients
1-cup water
1 teaspoon white sugar
1-teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-tablespoon active dry yeast
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasonings
Place ingredients into bread machine in order listed and select the dough cycle. When the dough has risen to the top of the pan remove it to a baking sheet.
Place dough on a greased 9x13-inch baking pan, push dough with fingers to cover the bottom of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes.
Uncover dough, and poke holes in it with a greased spoon handle at 1-inch intervals. Drizzle olive oil on dough, and sprinkle with Italian seasonings.
Bake at 400° for 17 to 27 minutes, until just golden. Remove from baking sheet, and cool on rack.
Very pretty top, Betty! I can't really see the crumb (the highlights--flash? may have blown the detail out), but from what I can see, yours looks a lot more even than mine.
Our recipes seem quite different--and yours is definitely "easier." It makes me wonder if mine is worth the extra trouble. So I started comparing:
Yours includes an enrichment that mine doesn't (the egg) as well as sugar that mine doesn't. You're using more yeast. Mine is a wetter dough.
If we cut my recipe in half (so we're using the same amount of water), the comparison becomes a little easier. You're using a cup more of flour and 1 Tbsp less oil. The egg will make up some of the liquid in your recipe, but I still think mine is probably a wetter dough. And mine definitely takes more time--and more handling time. After mixing & first stretch, I twice let it rest for 30 minutes & stretched/folded again. Then it rested/fermented on the counter for an hour. I think that brought me to the point that your bread machine got you to.
We both put the dough in its pan & used our fingers to spread the dough. This may have been an oilier process for me. The BBA called this "dimpling" the dough with the fingertips.
You let the dough rise for 30 minutes at this point then baked. I refrigerated the pan overnight, dimpled with oil again and let it warm/rise on the counter for 3 hours before baking.
Yours uses a lot more yeast, but I think the longer time and the overnight in the refrigerator lets the lesser amount of yeast in mine grow more.
I don't have a bread machine, so I can't compare the two by making your bread, so I'm hoping someone can comment on the two. Is mine worth the extra trouble?
Thanks!
LisaAlissa