Bread

Usually I bake bread at home. I love baking bread. It is so amazing how many different kinds of bread exist in this world! And it is so much fun to be creative. Though, you can never know what will come out of it, out of dough you make.

I wanted to make something else than a common loaf of bread yesterday, so I baked focaccia. When I was in New Zealand (oh, such a long time ago!), I bought a book about muffins and quick breads which includes some nice recipes for focaccia as well. After all, focaccia is a bread too! In Slovenia we call such flat bread pogača, which is pronounced almost the same as focaccia (it would be probably written pogaccia in Italian (g is read as g in Greg). One recipe for pogača is also patented but I have never tried to make it.

I've put some chopped dried tomatoes on top of it because I had no rosemary at hand. And I didn't quite stick to the recipe, I have to admit that.

So, the recipe is as simple as this:

• 450 g white flour,
  
• 15 g yeast,
  
• 250 ml lukewarm water (perhaps a bit more),
  
• two tbs oil (preferable olive) + some for sprinkling the top of focaccia
  
• teaspoon salt + some for sprinkling the top of focaccia
  
• chopped dried tomato, tyme (olives, chopped bacon, rosemary,...)

Combine flour, yeast, water, oil and salt in a bowl. Mix the ingredients and then knead the dough until soft and silky (so, about 10 minutes if you do this by hands), leave about 1 hour to rise, knead again, put onto a tray (I used the round one for pies), flatten it with hands and leave to rise for another 1/2 hour. Press fingers into dough (all over it) and sprinkle with chopped tomatoes and some herbs (or you can use whatever you have at hand - olives, onions, cheese...). Sprinkle some oil over the top and bake at 200 degrees C about 25 minutes (until golden).

There are many other recipes for focaccia. Perhaps you would like to try to bake one of the breads from this bread blog? I have found it just now... Oh, amazing!

Btw, I will be back behind the screen on Monday, 18th... if I don't stay in the mountains with some shepherd. ;)