I've been wanting to make focaccia for a while now. My mother-in-law sent me a recipe (forever ago) and I have been meaning to make it; I just haven't gotten around to it. So of course I was excited to see that's that we were making for TWD this week. I do wish I had noticed earlier than 11:00 pm yesterday that this dough needed a 24 hour rest in the refrigerator. Oops. Needless to say, it didn't get that. I didn't even refrigerate it. I just let it raise and extra time, and then followed the directions in the book as though I did exactly what I was supposed to.
We all really loved this. I think my kids are going to eat all of it by themselves. It was a tad too salty for me with the salt in the dough and then the coarse salt on top. But that's an easy fix for next time. I halved the recipe and just baked one focaccia and topped it with chopped chives and salt.
It would be fun to try all different variations of this. The book suggests using it to make a sandwich and I think it would be delicious used that way. Hadlee dunked hers in balsamic vinegar, I guess it reminded her of french bread. :)
I'm not sure what I was missing by not refrigerating the dough for 24 hours and I am not sure it's worth finding out. I can't see myself thinking that far ahead for this kind of thing but maybe one of these days I will surprise myself and have it all together.
If you'd like the recipe, you can get it at the blog of our host for the week: Wandering Through.
If you'd like to see what the other TWD bakers did this week, (and you should, there are some mouth watering combinations out there) you can go HERE.
Your bread looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteI think it develops some flavor in the oven - I only refrigerate for about 6-8 hours and was happy with the outcome. 24 hours was definitley not happening :-)
OKay - I meant it develops flavor in the refrigerator. Brain and fingers not connected...
DeleteHaha. I figured that's what you meant. :)
DeletePretty bread! I'm glad it turned out without the rest!
ReplyDeleteNicely done! Your focaccia looks really great, and it sounds like it tasted just as good! Mine did go in the fridge for 24 hours, but I don't think it turned out as nicely as yours, so maybe you did the right thing!
ReplyDeleteYour bread does look great. I think longer refrigeration helps it develop more gluten and some additional flavour.
ReplyDeleteThanks for baking along this week.
Interesting that it turned out so well without the long rest in the fridge. Hmm,I didn't have to wait!!! Great job! It is a long time to wait. And if I'm in the mood for bread, chances are I don't want to wait 24 hours!!
ReplyDeleteI think my yeast died out a bit during the fridge time...and I've read about the same problem from others. After the fridge it took almost 5 hours to rise enough to go into the oven, and it did not puff up as much as I hoped. I would have been better to have baked as you did. I know there are different types of yeast, but I did not notice any flavor enhancement from my fridge time. Your foccacia looks perfect.
ReplyDeleteGreat looking focaccia! Sounds tasty too, even without the fridge time.
ReplyDeleteYour loaf turned out beautiful. Good to know it did not need that long overnight rest.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you missed anything by not doing the cold rest. It just took forever! Yours looks absolutely perfect!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful focaccia. We also skipped the long rise for our gluten free version, which also still seemed to turn out perfectly. The recipe definitely warrants another try in the future, if only to experiment with the multitude of inventive topping options. Great post.
ReplyDeleteI am making your sweet pork burritos tomorrow!!! Miss you, been thinking about you lots. Let's talk soon!!! XOXO
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