Simply Focaccia
Focaccia; that beautifully, crispy Italian classic. This may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of hillbilly country cooking, however for me if bread is involved, a hillbilly’s involved somewhere.
Focaccia is one of my favorite breads to make. It’s simple, straight forward and most importantly, it’s tasty. If it’s your first-time baking bread I highly recommend starting with focaccia. You can add olives on top or put some tomato sauce with fresh cheese. Personally, I love cooking it in a skillet with kosher salt sprinkled on top.
Our first step in bread making, take a deep breath and smile. Next measure out 512 grams of bread flour, 10 grams of kosher salt and a packet of instant yeast. Loosely mix the dry ingredients then add 455 grams of warm (not hot, the yeast is sensitive) water. Stir with a wooden spoon until you’ve got a nice sticky dough, then I like to oil my hand with olive oil and give the dough a couple turns until its smooth.
Remember, don’t overwork the dough. After you’ve gotten it into a smooth ball place in an oiled bowl or container and place plastic wrap or a lid over top. To oil the bowl or container you’ll want to use oilve oil and I usually measure this part with my heart. The more oilve oil the better in my opinion.
Now place your covered dough in the fridge for 12-48 hours, depending. The longer you let this dough set the better the consistency and the bouncer the bread will be. If you want the bread sooner, you can skip the fridge and let the dough sit out in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until it has doubled (this can differ depending on the weather and your specific geographical location).
When it’s time to bake take the dough out of the fridge and place in an oiled pan or skillet then cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for an hour or until doubled. While this is happening, you can go ahead and pre-heat your oven to 425 F. Once the dough has risen take off the plastic wrap, pour some olive oil over top and take your fingers to put dimples into the bread and spread it out. After this you can add other toppings of your choosing or just simply sprinkle some kosher salt. Bake the bread for 25-28 minutes or until the top is crispy, golden brown.
Voila, you’ve got mouthwatering focaccia bread!
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