Homemade Foccacia...Cheater Style

I use my bread machine, A LOT, and rarely do I let the machine take the flour, yeast, and water from raw ingredients to cooked bread. 99% of the time I use the dough setting and let the machine deal with the mess and the sore arms from all of the kneeding. It seems like my assignment for many family dinners is to bring bread, and I have experimented with a bunch of different variations, and so far this is my favorite.

In your bread machine, (if you are brave and buff, do it by hand), throw the ingredients in for focaccia bread...usually some variation of yeast, flour, salt, olive oil, and water. Hit the dough setting, and let it start mixing and kneeding. As soon as it is done with its kneeding process, take the dough out, and stick in an oiled bowl to let rise for a good hour or so, or until it is doubled. Or, in my case, let it rise until the kiddo is down for a nap and you have time. We keep our house a little on the cool side, so often I use the proof setting on the oven...that setting warms your oven just a tiny tiny bit, and is a good bump-free spot to let your dough rise.

While it is rising, get out your trusty large baking sheet, and spread about 2-3 tablespoons of oil around...no one likes bread that doesn't want to come out of the pan!

A note on olive oil....a few years ago my family took a trip to Italy. While on that trip, Andy and I took a small tour into Tuscany where we learned how goooooood olive oil is made, and of course, got to taste amazing olive oil. An afternoon of serious Italian glutony and a ridicoulsly expensive olive oil purchase later, we considered ourselves true olive oil (OO) snobs. Unfortunately, our bank account quit letting us buy OO that was fit for the Queen of England, but, there are some qualities that we try not to skimp on because a good OO can really enhance your food.

1. Make sure that OO you buy is first cold pressed. That means that you are getting the first oil squeezed from the olives, and that it is done in a process that does not use heat. Heat is used later with the olives to get the very last drop of oil and it comprimises the quality.

2. The OO should be more green than yellow

3. It should smell kind of raw and tart...a good OO will have a really noticable, and unexpected smell.

Lucky for us Americans, God invented Costco and Mr. Kirkland. The OO that they sell in a 2-pack that is about $25 is pretty darn close to being as good as what we had in Italy. If you can't go through that much oil in a reasonable amount of time, split it with a friend, because it is great OO and a good value.

Now, once your dough it doubled, plop it onto the tray, and start stretching it out. Your goal is to reach the sides of the pan. It will probably be pretty elasticy, but if you let it sit for a few minutes, you should be able to get it pretty close to the edges. Then let it raise for another hour or so until it is doubled again.

Now, the topping. Fresh Rosemary, Yum! I used to really dislike rosemary, mostly because it is always on roast beef, and no offense Mom, I am not the biggest fan of roast beef. But, I gave it another chance, it is a really great herb on bread. Bonus, it is a perennial herb that is easy to grow, and it keeps forever in the fridge. So, take a couple big sprigs, and take off all the little leaves. And chop, chop, chop!

So, I forgot to tell you to put about 1/3+ cup of olive oil in a ramiken, do that first, and then put your chopped up rosemary in to it, and let it sit for a couple minutes...I did this while I was letting the dough become a little less elasticy.

Now, once your dough is doubled, gently, or not so gently, with your fingers, make a bunch of little indentations all over it. This will make lovely little pockets for your rosemary and olive oil to settle into.

And, spread the oil and rosemary all over the dough. It might seem like a lot of oil, but as it bakes it soaks in a bit and makes the bread AMAZING!

Final touch, sea salt. Again, thank you Mr. Kirkland, you make a lovely sea salt grinder!

Grind the sea salt all over the bread, the amount is really a personal preference, I like this bread a little on the salty side, as I think it really helps the flavors of the olive oil and rosemary shine.

Pop it into a 425 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until the top is nice and brown. When you open the oven door to take a peek (like I do much more than I should probably), the smell of the olive oil will really be amazing!!

While the bread is cooking, get out 2 cookie racks, and stick them side by side.

When the bread is nice and golden, and your kitchen smells incredible, take it out of the oven, and ever so carefully, slide the bread out of the pan and on to the racks. This will keep the bottom of the bread from getting soggy (ick!) while it cools.

And, if you can manage ( I NEVER can), wait it until it is reasonable cool to cut it up...or, burn your fingers cutting a hunk off to eat while it is still really hot!!

Enjoy!!