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| Fougasse Bread |
The major news story, on both sides of the border, is the rising food prices.
I can remember buying a loaf of Italian bread for a dollar.
Now, it costs over two dollars.
Now, I’m not buying it.
Nope… now it’s time to make some Italian bread of my own.
Ma used to make focaccia with herbs and onions.
Focaccia is an Italian flat bread that’s easy to make.
It’s perfect right out of the oven with a bowl of soup or a salad.
It can also be used in place of rolls for sandwiches.
Fougasse is a type of focaccia from the Provence area in Southern France.
Don’t let that scare you. It’s easy to make.
Focaccia is cooked in a pan and has dimpling on the top of the loaf.
Fougasse is cooked like a pizza and is slashed to look like a wheat sheaf.
It has a crisp crust and a spongy, slightly chewy inside and is perfect for snacking, dipped in oil or spread with soft cheese.
Here ’s a link for a few other of Ma's Focaccia recipes
Anna Sultana’s Herbed Focaccia and Focaccia with Tomatoes & Onions / One-Hour Skillet Focaccia, Fast No-Knead Focaccia, No-Knead Skillet Focaccia
https://imturning60help.blogspot.com/2023/01/focacciaanna-sultanas-herbed-focaccia.html
Enjoy!
Hints:
About the Fougasse Bread…
A typical Provence combination of herbs is rosemary, thyme and oregano.
You can also add things like olives and anchovies or ham or cheese.
Or whatever you like, or have in your fridge or on your shelves.
If there is still flour in the bowl, gradually add a little water to blend into the whole.
It can also be baked in a muffin tin, without slashes, for individual loaves.
Fougasse is best eaten warm and freezes well.
About the Focaccia breads…
If you use whole wheat flour it will be a bit more dense, not light and fluffy.
You can also use refrigerated pizza dough. Bake at 375º F for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.
You could top it with herbs like oregano, or thick slices of garlic or shallots, or sesame seeds, as well as with halved grape tomatoes, chopped black olives, sun-dried tomatoes or thinly sliced lemons.
Some ingredients should be added after the bread has baked. For example: delicate herbs, such as basil, and garnishes, such as honey, that might burn in the oven, should be added to baked bread.
Focaccia is best the day it is made but it can be stored, well-wrapped, at room temperature for a day. The crust will soften, but, if the crust gets too soft, it can be warmed and crisped in a 350° F oven for a few minutes.
Focaccia freezes well. Let it defrost at room temperature and then reheat in a 350° F oven.
About the Onion Focaccia…
If, when you press the dough after the third rising, it sinks and deflates, it is overproofed.
You can still bake it and call it flatbread.
The dough can be made a day ahead. Wrap tightly after the second rising and refrigerate.
About the Fast Focaccia…
The dough can be used right away, but it is much easier to handle if it’s been thoroughly chilled. The dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, or in the freezer, as shaped loaves, for a few months.
The frozen loaves need to sit at room temperature for 35 minutes before they are baked.
The baking time will vary depending on the focaccia’s thickness.
Fougasse Bread
Makes 1 small loaf
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine in a large bowl
1 1/2 Cups flour
1 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon rosemary
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon oregano
Add
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 Cup plus 1 Tablespoon warm water
Stir together until it all comes together.
Place the mixture on a lightly floured surface and knead 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and not sticky. If needed, add a little more flour. Bring dough together into a ball.
Lightly oil the large bowl and return the dough to it.
Cover with a towel and place in a warm place. Leave to double in size, about an hour.
Once the dough has doubled, place it on a lightly floured surface.
Stretch it out into an oval shape, about 2/3 inch thick.
Place the dough on the lined baking sheet.
Using a sharp knife, make a long cut down the middle of the dough, then three cuts on either side. Gently stretch open each of the cuts to leave a set of openings in the dough in a leaf-like pattern.
Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rest 25 minutes.
Preheat oven to 430º F
Remove the cloth and brush the top of the loaf with
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Sprinkle over loaf
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden and hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom.
Allow to cool slightly before slicing or tearing into pieces.
Onion Focaccia
Place in large mixer bowl
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
2 teaspoons honey
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Cups warm water
Stir together.
Add
5 Cups flour
Stir to blend.
Add
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
Stir to combine. It will still be wet and sticky.
Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap.
Place in a warm spot until dough doubles in size, about 60 minutes
Lightly flour work surface and turn dough out onto it.
Sprinkle flour on the dough and knead until it looks smooth and elastic.
Oil the large mixer bowl, put dough in it and rotate the dough to cover surface with oil.
Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap.
Place in a warm spot and let sit until dough doubles in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.
Generously oil a rimmed baking sheet, about 12 3⁄4 by 17 3⁄4 inches.
Turn the dough onto the baking sheet and stretch the dough into a flat, even layer.
Generously drizzle olive oil over the top and place a piece of plastic lightly over it.
Place in a warm spot and let sit for another 45 to 60 minutes. The dough should look puffy.
Slice into rings about 1/8 inch thick
1 small red onion
Preheat oven to 425º F
Gently press the dough. It should spring back slightly.
Make indentations in the dough with your fingers.
Scatter the onion rings over the top and drizzle with olive oil.
Sprinkle with
sea salt
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until golden brown and the onion has caramelized.
Remove from oven and cool slightly, then cut into pieces and serve.
Fast Focaccia
Place in each of 2 9 inch cake pan
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Evenly coat the bottom of the pans with the oil.
Place the rack in the middle of the oven.
Place in a large bowl
1 1/2 Cups plus 2 Tablespoons lukewarm water
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
2 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
3 3/4 Cups flour
Stir together to form a rough dough.
Cover bowl and let rest on the counter for two hours.
Dust the surface of the dough lightly with flour.
Take half of the dough, dust again with flour and knead for a few minutes.
Flatten it into a disk 1/2 inch thick, six to seven inches in diameter.
Place the dough in an oiled cake pan to coat the bottom surface with oil.
Take the dough out of the pan, turn the dough over, return the dough to the pan, cover the pan with plastic wrap, and let rest for 15 minutes.
Repeat with the second half of the dough.
Gently push the dough to the edges of the cake pan.
Sprinkle with
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
kosher salt
Cover with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
Repeat with the second half of the dough.
Preheat oven to 425º F
Place the cake pans in the oven.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is medium brown and feels dry and firm.
Loosen the loaf from the edges of the pan, then transfer the focaccia to a cutting board.
Cut into wedges and serve warm, or allow to cool completely.
~~~
Back in February 2004 we, the hosts of our CKUW radio show ‘2000 & Counting’, had a few things to say about the holiday season we’d just survived.
I had a few thoughts on what we could do with our Christmas gifts.
Don’t think it changed anybody's mind. Can't fight traditions.
Christmas is over. Boxing Day is finis. People are frantically trying to find some forgotten corner in their homes where they can stash away their great bargains. Ah, holidays… Does anything else make us work this hard?
It's also time for resolutions. You've heard them all: stop smoking, lose weight, get into shape. Fine. Health is important.
But, let's tackle a problem that cuts across all ethnic, socio-economic, age and national borders. A problem that causes hurt feelings in every family. A problem that can haunt your family even after you've gone to that great bargain hunt in the sky.
The problem is saving. I'm not talking about GICs, RSPs, stocks or bonds. No. I'm talking about Christmas Gift Saving.
Remember Christmas? You unwrapped a gift while your loved ones held their breaths and stared, eagerly awaiting your reaction. You didn't disappoint. You oohed and aahed and said you loved it. You loved the colour, the material, the cut, the fragrance, the thought and the care that made your sweeties decide that you just had to have it.
Then you packed it away.
Oh, I know the excuses:You're saving it for a special occasion.
You're saving it for when company comes over.
You don't want to ruin it.
You'll use it when you have a blouse, skirt, hat, coat or umbrella that'll really go great with it.
You'll use it when you've lost a few pounds.
You - as you are now, with what you own now - are not good enough to use the darn thing.
What does this mean? Are you saying that in the future you want to be given something you'll hate? That if it was something awful you'd feel free to use it?
Trust me. They didn't take out a loan to buy it. They probably bought it at last year's Boxing Day sales. Half price.
Repeat after me: I'm good enough to use it. Say it again. I knew you could. Ready to use it now? No, eh.
Oh, I can hear you. You got through the depression, the war, corporate downsizings. You know how to do without and save. Whoopee!! Even if there were another depression, we won't go on a Jean Nate cologne barter system. The good old days of black markets are gone. Today war means total annihilation. Your Jean Nate will vaporize.
Clothes do go out of style. Your grandchildren won't want them. Did you hear about the huge sale the Kennedys had after Jackie died? Caroline wasn't eager to wear those little pillbox hats her Mom had made so popular. Unless you have a relative working for the costume museum in Dugald, those mint condition scarves, blouses and purses will end up at the Sally Ann, or bundled for paint rags.
You want them to remember you? Use the gift. They'll be fighting like cats and dogs to inherit your old purse because it'll remind them of you. There… Doesn't the image of your nearest and dearest in a knock down drag out battle make you feel all warm and toasty.
Happy New Year and enjoy!
