½ tsp. honey
1 cup water, warm... not hot
1 tsp. instant yeast
2¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. olive oil
A cup of flour weighs about 120 g, so that's about 330 grams of flour for 8 fl. oz. (240 ml) of warm water. Be prepared to adjust the amount of flour or amount of water slightly to make dough that is neither too dry nor too wet and sticky. All the other measurements work internationally, I think.
Mix the honey into the warm water. Separately, mix the flour, salt, and yeast together in a bowl (the bowl of a stand mixer is good.) Add the wet ingredients, including the olive oil, to the dry ingredients and stir well (again, a stand mixer works great — you could certainly use a bread machine to do the blending and needing for you) to form a nice dough ball. Then knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes.
Put the dough ball in a lightly oiled ball and cover it. Let it rise in a warm place (I favor using the microwave oven but don't turn it on!). I also put a cup of very hot water in the microwave with the dough for the heat it releases and for the humidity it adds to the air in the oven.
After a couple of hours, when the dough ball
has doubled in size, punch it down and put it into a lightly oiled baking pan or dish (a lasagne pan...). Using your fingers, spread the dough to fill the pan. It should be about ¾" (2 cm) thick. Cover it and let it rise for another 15 minutes. Put on the toppings and bake it for 15 to 10 minutes in the oven at 180ºC (350ºF).
- 6 or 8 small tomatoes (20 pieces of tomato) — you could use cherry or grape tomatoes
- 2 slices of boiled (sandwich ham, called jambon de Paris here in France)
- fresh or dried herbs and hot red pepper flakes à volonté
- 1 onion and 2 garlic cloves, sliced and "sweated" in olive oil
- 12 black olives (pitted or not)
- 125 grams (4 oz.) goat cheese (or use whatever cheese you like)
You could use chicken, turkey, or bacon instead of ham. And vary all the toppings as you please. Drizzle on some good olive oil at the table.
I know it is not at all the same thing, but this dish made me think of Pan Bagnat. It looks very appetizing, even though I already had my dinner.
ReplyDeleteI did not realize that focaccia had a Provençal version which is fougasse. I understand there are fougasse versions in other parts of France too. Must be good. It looks like it.
DeleteYes, there's the Provençal fougasse as well as the Loire Valley fouée, which is more like a pita bread. And then there's the fouace, which is more like a brioche and is often made with candied fruit.
DeleteWOW! You seem to have completely mastered Blogger's new (and improved!) interface. Again, congratulations!
ReplyDeleteI'm still experimenting and trying to get used to it. It's taking me three times longer to put a post together than before the change. The interface is still disconcerting, erratic, and only partially predictable!
DeleteI cheat totally on this.... our Panick-sonic "dough"maker has a pizza dough setting.... 45 minutes.... and a focaccia recipe....I often do a Bacon,Tomato&Olive version.... and a TotallyTomato version using passata instead of water.
ReplyDeleteI also use the pizza dough setting with the ordinary bread recipe as it actually gives a nice light bread with a good crumb.... the pizza dough recipe, however, is hopeless [with the exception of making a "tray pizza" topped with goodies and sliced up for a party finger food... feeds about 50!!
You can make a focaccia in the dough for which you incorporate ham, lardons, sun-dried tomatoes, onion, and whatever dry ingredients you want. No toppings other than maybe some olive oil and some grated cheese.
DeleteThis looks completely delicious. And so so adaptable... Sorry you are still having so much trouble with blogger.
ReplyDeleteI'll get the hang of it after a while. And Blogger will keep de-bugging and improving it, I hope.
DeleteThat's a great looking bread, and even little tid-bits on it for a cat that sidles up purring gently.
ReplyDeleteI will try that,
ReplyDeleteNow, that just looks scrumptious!
ReplyDeleteThat looks amazing!
ReplyDelete