Thursday, September 4, 2008

A Focaccia Quickie

I've detailed my love affair with the KitchenAid mixer so much that you're probably a little tired of it and perhaps think I'm a wee bit crazy. Well, I won't argue with you there, but I will say that since I've been home that baby has been working hard mixing, beating,stirring and kneading on a daily basis. I've been on a yeast bread kick, and my first recipe is a quickie focaccia. A lot of things in life are worth a little patience and waiting, but if you can have an equally satisfying quickie, why complain? Mind out of the gutters, please.

Focaccia has always been one of my favorite breads. Full of flavor and having just the perfect balance of crisp crust and soft interior, I eat way too much of this stuff when tempted. This Rosemary Focaccia will only take about 2.5 hours of your life: one to allow it to rise, about a half hour to bake, and another hour just to devour the entire pan.


How simple could bread baking really be? Olive oil is drizzled on the bottom of the baking pan to give the focaccia a crisp and flavorful crust. The dough is poured in, sprinkled with rosemary & garlic salt, and left alone to rise for an hour. After a brief stint in the oven, your house will smelly dreamy and you'll be happy.


The following day, we used our ungodly delicious focaccia to make grilled paninis with turkey, red pepper, tomato and goat cheese. I couldn't have been any more jubilant once I realized we had both eaten approximately 1.5 cups of flour per person in a 24 hour time period. Eat me, Dr. Atkins.



Quickie Rosemary Focaccia
Adapted from King Arthur Flour
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) warm water
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) olive oil (plus additional for drizzling)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups (14 ¾ ounces) All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon instant yeast (I used 4 teaspoons of active dry yeast, proofed for 10 minutes in 1/2 cup of water)
2 tablespoons fresh Rosemary, chopped
1/2 teaspoon coarse garlic salt

1) Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, and drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom.
2) Combine all of the ingredients, and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds.
3) Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes, till it’s become puffy.
4) While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F.
5) Gently poke the dough all over with your index finger.
6) Drizzle it lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with Rosemary and garlic salt.
7) Bake the bread till it’s golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.
8) Remove it from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

30 comments:

Meandering Eats said...

The KA mixer has been indispensable since I started doing breads. I admit to being very spoiled by not having to knead too much, but I've come to appreciate doing some kneading by hand. The mixer does the hard work, of course, but I finish on my own. Rosemary focaccia was my first bread, too! Yours looks gorgeous!

Caitlin said...

i just found your blog.. you wedding pictures in the post below are AMAZING! i am so jealous of your cake :)

The K&A Mixer is the best thing to even happen to me!

Katie said...

That looks SO tasty!!

RecipeGirl said...

This looks great... I think I did something like this once but with thyme in place of rosemary. The leftovers look good too!

Anonymous said...

That it, I'm going to make this once and for all! Looks amazing!

That Girl said...

Welcome home!

MrOrph said...

I love my KA, too. I have no idea what I was doing without it.

This focaccia looks easy enough. I am actually getting more comfortable with bread now. Baby steps...

Clumbsy Cookie said...

I loveeeeeeeeee foccacia! I'm sure Dr Atkins can forgive you for this one since it looks so good! ;)

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

I've always been intimidated by baking bread (ESPECIALLY focaccia), but you make it look and sound so fun and easy!!

KitchenAid mixer = definitely a great wonder for the kitchen.

Quinn said...

Just found your blog! That foccacia looks awesome! I've been nervous to make my own bread, but this one doesn't sound too difficult. Can't wait for the KA Mixer to come off my registry.

Aggie said...

I love my Kitchen Aid...I have never made bread, I am scared to. I want to make this though...I love foccaccia and those sandwiches look awesome! I'm drooling.

kat said...

that is some mighty fine looking bread, I could eat a whole pan myself

Anonymous said...

A smile spread across my face as I looked through your focaccia photos - I want some!! Maybe this weekend :-)

Maria said...

We love our Professional KA mixer! We use it almost daily!! Love the looks of your bread...I can't wait to try it!

Roger said...

My fav kind of sandwich bread!

Nice new banner, btw.

grace said...

just so you know, it would take me far less than an hour to scarf this down. :)
it looks completely delicious, sharon--nice job, and welcome home! :)

Emily said...

Hey! You could make paninis.

This looks like a good focaccia recipe, and I'm going to remember it for future use.

daphne said...

I want a KA mixer though. What an invention!

And who cares abt carbs..i want that focaccia please!

lubnakarim06 said...

First time here. Quickie looks gr8 and love that cake also.

Prudy said...

I'm with you. Dr. Atkins isn't around anymore so give me a double helping of this focaccia.

Sophie said...

Yummy! Nice adaptation, boy do I miss breads like these :). I need to get one of those mixers! :)

vanillasugarblog said...

I love this. Gorgeous. I eat my focaccia with scrambled eggs on top. Sounds weird, but it's really good.

Anonymous said...

A great recipe and rosemary really makes it work. Thanks!

--Marc

Laura said...

Looks fabulous--your Dr. Atkins comment cracked me up.

Jenny said...

Ahhh, focaccia. Love it by itself, and REALLY love it in the sammy. Great pics!

tigerfish said...

Sounds really easy. But for someone with KitchenAid, I wonder what are my roadblocks going to be :O

Jeff said...

I don't know how I lived without the KA. Once I had it my entire life changed.

I am also with Grace it would not take me more than an hour to get that down.

LucyinStLou said...

What a great recipe! We are obsessed with focaccia in our house and I usually resort to a mix. Thanks! By the way, when Kitchen Aid was broken at one point and I literally cried. I was inconsolable until it came back from the company. I even have a nickname for it. Sad, I know.

mrsbingley said...

I tried this out yesterday and it is AWESOME! Thank you so much :)

We haven't *quite* finished it yet...we saved enough to have sandwiches for lunch tomorrow!

And I agree - I don't know how I made ANYTHING without my KA mixer.

I have bananas in my freezer and a can of coconut milk in my cupboard just waiting to be used for the recipe posted today. But, I think I'll wait until the curry is posted, cause that sounds delish, too!

Kate said...

This looks so yummy! I can't wait to ake it!