A Basket Full of Focaccia Delights!

'There is a basket of fresh bread on your head,

yet you go door to door asking for crust

Knock on the inner door, no other.'

Rumi

Possibly originating from the ancient Greeks (which may be why this is divine), and devoured across the Mediterranean as well as Argentina (which is almost Europe really!) This focaccia bread is the first, and now my favourite of all the breads; super easy, super delicious, and extremely moreish! 

I completely recommend it to anyone trying something new... 

Jamie's Focaccia

I have to admit... I have a whole list of recipe's just waiting for the right time to be completed. As it turns out I am quite the workaholic in the kitchen, so, the list includes Gnocchi, My First Ever Jerk Chicken, Simple and Delicious Zucchini Soup, the Amazing Pizza's amongst others.... But last night amongst the candle light dinner we shared with some good friends, Focaccia bread not only dazzled the guests, but their tastebuds too ;)

You see, that despite making a delicious bread every couple of days, I wanted to make something special for our guests... I have to thank Jamie Oliver for this recipe. I have to be honest, there was no way I thought that my bread would turn out as delicious and sumptuous as his one. This is his photo (Left). I have this here to provide a comparison!

My Focaccia

I served this as a starter... (what I thought was a starter then it turned out to be one big delicious medly) a small piece of each part on everyone's plates... scattered on the table was baked hummus (I have updates some of the photos on this blog so you can see how it rises!), lebne and fresh yogurt, homemade beetroot Salad (simple boiled beetroot with Lemon and Salt) and cucumbers... Fresh from the oven Potato Wedges and finally once there was was a little room on people's plates, we passed round Jerk Chicken... A winner all over! (I cant forget my unburnt apple cake.. yes.. I mean.. unburnt. Update of how not to burn your cake is now available!)

This bread was devoured and gave the dinner the extra little punch of flavour it needed to blend the vast array of dips, sauces, salads, sides and mains together. Yum!

Crumbs! Tips!

The Missing Ingredients

I knew I wasn't going to have goats cheese at hand or any other fancy cheese (apart from Parmesan of course... I could perhaps die an early death without parmesan in the kitchen... the dervish would never understand!)... So... instead I replaced the cheeses with local handmade Halloumi (cut into rectangles and poked into the dough), and homemade thick Lebne yogurt that had been hanging for two days instead of one (creamed and blobbed on), and had a delicious pungent blue cheese esk taste and smell... Yum! 

I also had no access to any cherry tomatoes... so I just used regular tomatoes.. I should say though, these are fully in season at the moment, and so were full of delicious taste.. which you may not get if you buy regular tomatoes from say ASDA or Tesco... you would have to go for 'Finest'. I would recommend only getting what's local and in Season... God's way of saying 'Its good for you!'

Also, because I just couldn't be bothered to walk to the top of the hill (to be fair it would have been 40 minutes there and back...) I used dry rosemary instead of fresh sprigs...

Jamie says, this serves 10.... well. I am not so sure! Out of the 24 squares I cut this into... only 5 were left, and there were 5 people at the table! The 5 that are left are my little present to myself and I will be having them with some lentil soup this evening! I would say this Serves 5 People comfortably, 6 at a stretch also.. When you have guests... it is well worth making this bread as a complete replacement for normal bread... (double or triple the quantity if necessary if you have a large party of people) It takes less rising time, a tiny little bit more actual hands on cooking, but its so delicious it makes it all worth it!

- Don't get scared by the long list of ingredients... most are readily available in any kitchen!

- I do not have semolina flour and have used normal plan flour instead - as I do with my normal bread and this is still delicious

- I shaved the parmesan rather than grated it, and this created a wonderful later of it all over the cheesy side! Yum 

- This is a great recipe for experimenting with toppings... especially the three cheeses... go on! You know you want to!

- To kill two birds with one stone, I doubled the flour recipe, and used one half for the focaccia, and the other half to make regular white bread (I simply followed the direction notes on rising and baking for regular white bread... using this recipe for the dough)...

Happy Cooking!

Focaccia Delights!

Ingredients:

For the dough

500g strong white bread flour, plus more for dusting

1/2 tbsp Sea Salt, 

1 Sachet of Dried Yeast

1/2 tbsp Caster Sugar

300ml Lukewarm Water

3 tbsp Olive Oil

For the Balsamic Onion Topping

2 tbsp Olive Oil, 

2 Red Onions finely Slices, 

Thyme (I used dry, if there is fresh, then great)

6 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

For the Basil and Tomato Topping

1 Bunch of Fresh Basil

1 large handful of ripe cherry tomatoes halved or 3-4 ripe tomatoes sliced

Sea Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Olive Oil

White Wine Vinegar (I used apple)

2 Cloves of Garlic Peeled and Sliced (crushed)

For the three-cheese and rosemary topping

40g Halloumi Cheese cut into rectangular rods

40g Thick Lebne 

30g Parmesan shaved into thin slices

Fresh or dry Rosemary

Sea Salt

Directions:

1. Mix the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large bowl or on an Italian board. 
2. Make a well in the centre, then add the oil and water, and mix well. If the dough seems a little stiff, add 1-2 tbsp water, mix well.
3. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for around 5 minutes 
4. Once the dough is satin-smooth, place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Leave to rise for 30 minutes until doubled in size.
   
5. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7 and prepare the toppings
6. For the balsamic onion topping, fry the sliced onions and thyme leaves in 2 tbsp of olice oil over a low heat for about 5 minutes, add the balsamic vinegar, reduce for a minute or two, then leave to cool.
7.  For the basil and tomato topping, roughly chop the basil leaves and put them in a bowl with the sliced tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, a little olive oil and apple or white wine vinegar, add the garlic and mix together (by hand is fine, I also squeezed the tomatoes a little to get the juices out
8.  As soon as the dough has risen, pound it, then place it on a baking tray (I put grease proof paper on mine) and spread it out to cover the tray (my tray was around 12x8 inches.. a little larger, or a little sma
   ller is also fine for this quantity). Push down roughly on top of the dough and prod your fingers in it creating little dips and wells. 
9. Divide the onion and the tomato topping over two thirds of the focaccia. On the last third, poke the halloumi into the dough, smear on some delicious tangy lebne, and sprinkle on a generous amount of parmesan (or three cheeses of your choice!) Add the rosemary and season with salt and pepper
10. Leave the dough to rise for a further 20 minutes
11. Bake the focaccia for 20 minutes until Golden on top and soft in the middle (It also ends up being crispy underneath if the tray is lined with Olive Oil... mine always is!
12. Devour!! (or cut into 24 even slices ready for your guests when they arrive!)

Serve it with Love!