lately i have developed an obsession, one that has been building for a while. it is an obsession with focaccia. i think i first had focaccia on a sandwich at bread co (or panera bread to most of the rest of you) years ago. it was tomato basil, i think. i love light, fluffy, slightly chewy breads. i love breads of any kind, really, but focaccia has to be my favorite. so the obsession i've developed isn't just the bread itself but finding a good recipe that i can use to make focaccia myself, with whatever additional flavors i want.

i think the main reason it took me so long to actually try focaccia is my (lack of) relationship with yeast. yeast always seemed so mysterious and tricky. like if i didn't treat it just exactly right, it would turn on me. getting over that initial trepidation has opened the flood gates. now i want to try all different breads. looking at how incredibly simple the recipe i ended up with through trial and error is, it's amazing how many times i screwed it up. actually, some of the screw ups were because of the poor recipes i found. and by screw up, i mean that i had probably 8 batches that turned out far too thin & with way too much crunch. i learned that the reason it wasn't working out for me was a combination of wrong temperature of water, not enough rising time and wrong pan.

so here's the basic recipe i came up with.

simple focaccia

1 cup water at about 110 degrees fahrenheit

1 1/4 oz. packet dry active yeast

1 tbs sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbs olive oil

dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water & let it sit and get foamy for about 5 minutes. then mix it in a large bowl with the flour, salt and oil. fold a few times on a floured surface. i then wash out the bowl i used & spray in some cooking spray so it's easier to get out later. let the dough rise for about 3 hours.  then pour the dough into a 9X9 baking dish and push it out to evenly fill the bottom with your fingers.  push deep dimples into the surface with your fingertips.  bake at 400 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.

now that i write this recipe out, i feel even stupider for having messed it up so many times. the failed attempts were still tasty, just not what i was looking for. i've now made the perfected recipe several times with different additions. except for the times that i've put sautéed garlic & onions on top, i mix everything else in at the beginning, before the dough rises.

here is a picture of one of the "failed" attempts.  i later learned that using the 9X9 pan forces the dough to go up (because it can't go out like when i used my 9X13).  the bread in this picture tasted good, i loved the olives & rosemary on top, it was just not fluffy & it was way too crunchy.

here's my first successful attempt.  see how thick it is?  i did a little happy dance when i saw this one come out of the oven.  it just has onions & garlic that i sweated in a pan until the onions were clear & soft & then spread on top before i put it in the oven.

below (at at the top of this post) are the next batch. i chopped up about a quarter cup of fresh basil & mixed it in at the beginning.  then i put the same onion & garlic mixture on top and topped that with a bit more basil.  this one has been my favorite so far.

i also made a batch with about 3/4 cup of leftover pasta sauce (see previous entry here) that i let drain in the colander for a bit to get out as much excess moisture as i could.  i mixed it in prior to letting the dough rise.  the dough looked gross & way too wet.  i was afraid it wouldn't rise but it turned out great!  it smelled like pizza.  i wish i had a picture of it but its all been gobbled down already. 

i'm glad that i've finally conquered focaccia.  it is so easy and so versatile.  i can start it & add whatever takes my fancy at the moment & then let it go while i do other things and the baking time is relatively short.  focaccia is great for sandwiches plus, with all the stuff you can add to it, i like it as a snack on its own.

i think i need to buy some stock in a flour company.  since i am now friends with yeast, i see a lot of bread baking coming my way!