Being a member to a family that bakes sure do have an implication to my choices of hobby, and it seems my choice of shows to watch also influenced by this. One of the shows that I watch repeatedly is The Great British Bake Off, and watching it somehow seem like splashing the fire to bake with gasoline. It burns brighter and stronger...
Last week, I was watching TGBBO which the bakers were assigned to bake focaccia and I was suddenly hankering to make my own version of focaccia. So yesterday, I opened a few web page for me to refer for my version of focaccia. Even if I want to make my version of a focaccia, I still want it to passed as a focaccia.
As I don't have any mixer to help in kneading the dough for me and I take such a long time to knead, I decided to start kneading without activating the yeast first. So with my method, even if I knead at my pace, the yeast will not over bloom by the time I'm ready to prove.
So here is my version of focaccia:
Ingredient:
Dough:
wet ingredients:
1 1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon honey
1 table spoon of vegetable oil (preferably olive oil)
3 tablespoon tomato puree
dry ingredients:
3 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pack of yeast.
1 tablespoon of garlic confit (smashed) or garlic powder.
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon oregano
Topping:
1/3-1/2 cup of vegetable oil
3 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon oregano
1/8 cup of cheddar (small cubes) -optional
1/8 cup of mozarella (small cubes) -optional
1/4 cup of pepperoni (cut small) -optional
Method:
Put all the dry ingredient in a big bowl, remember to not put salt and yeast together as salt could inhibit the yeast.
Make a well in the center of the flour mound and pour the wet ingredient in.
Mix with your hand only until the ingredient is incorporated together. cover with a damp towel and let the dough rest for 15 minutes
Fold the dough by holding one side and fold it to the top, the hold the part next to it and fold it to the top of it self. Repeat this until you have made a full turn to the dough. Let it rest for another 15 minutes. Repeat this for 3-4 times.
Sealed the dough and let it rise for about 1 hour in room temperature or you can put it in the fridge and let it prove overnight.
While you are doing the fold and prove, combine the oil, garlic and herb in a pot. Put it on the lowest heat setting and let it infuse for 5 minutes max. Let it cool down before using it.
Prepare the baking pan; pour 1 tablespoon of the infused oil in the baking pan and smothered the inside of the pan. If you don't smothered the oil properly inside the pan, your focaccia will be difficult to remove from the pan later.
Transfer the dough into the pan and try to pull the dough to reach the edge of the pan. If the dough seems to be resisting the pull, let it rest for 10 minutes before trying again.
Let the dough prove for at least 45 minutes while you prepare the topping. Preheat the oven to 180.
If you are not planning on any physical topping but go to the traditional only infused oil; have a bowl of water beside you while you do this. Wet your fingers and make dimples by poking the dough straight until you can feel the pan. Make multiples dimples with the notions that those dimples will be a well to trap the oil and be a place for the taste to infuse into the bread.
If you are using cubes topping, you can always put the cube on top of the dough and push the cube down until you meet resistant (the bottom of the pan). Do this until you get dimples throughout the focaccia.
Pour the infused oil on top the dough, don't forget to sieve the oil from the ingredient that was use to infuse the oil. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on the dough.
Bake the focaccia for about 20 minutes, but you are wise to peek at 15 minutes mark.
Remove the focaccia from the pan to a rack to cool it down. You don't want sweats on the underside of the focaccia.
You may prepare dip if you wants to, but I do enjoy the focaccia as it is.
