Monday, November 15, 2010

Rosemary Focaccia


There is something about homemade bread that I find intoxicating. Maybe it's the glass of wine I wash it down with. Betty Crapper loves her daily glass of wine.

Regardless, there's something special about bread you make yourself. This recipe is easy, but time consuming. Those of you without a stand mixer are in luck. The only fancy equipment you need to make the dough is a bowl and a wooden spoon. A rubber spatula plays a minor role. I promise it's really easy.

Betty Crapper doesn't lie. 
The bread gets baked in two 9-inch cake rounds placed on top of a super hot baking stone. If you don't have a baking stone, use an upside down, preheated rimmed baking sheet.

Rosemary Focaccia
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated (September/October 2010)
(makes two 9-inch round loaves)

Biga

1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (2 2/3 ounces) warm water (100-110 F)
1/4 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast

Dough

2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) warm water (100-110 F)
1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves

Process
  1. The day before, combine biga ingredients in a large bowl and stir with a wooden spoon for about 1 minute. You should have a uniform mass with no dry flour.
  2. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for at least 8 hours (up to 24 hours).
  3. For the dough, stir flour, water, and yeast into the biga with a wooden spoon for about 1 minute. You should have a uniform mass with no dry flour.
  4. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 15 minutes.
  5. Add 2 teaspoons Kosher salt to dough and stir with wooden spoon about 1 minute.
  6. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 30 minutes.
  7. Spray rubber spatula with nonstick cooking spray.
  8. With rubber spatula, fold dough over itself 8 times as follows:
    • lift an edge of dough with spatula and fold it towards the middle.
    • turn bowl 90 degrees.
    • repeat, repeat, repeat......until you've folded dough over 8 times.
  9. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 30 minutes.
  10. With rubber spatula, fold dough over itself 8 times as follows:
    • lift an edge of dough with spatula and fold it towards the middle.
    • turn bowl 90 degrees.
    • repeat, repeat, repeat......until you've folded dough over 8 times.
  11. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 30 minutes.
  12. With rubber spatula, fold dough over itself 8 times as follows:
    • lift an edge of dough with spatula and fold it towards the middle.
    • turn bowl 90 degrees.
    • repeat, repeat, repeat... until you've folded dough over 8 times.
  13. Place oven rack in upper middle position. Place baking stone on rack and preheat oven to 500 F.
  14. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 30 minutes.
  15. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface (counter). BE GENTLE! 
  16. Lightly dust top of dough with flour and divide in half.
  17. Shape each piece into a 5 inch round by GENTLY tucking under edges.
  18. Coat two 9 inch round cake pans with 2 tablespoons olive oil each.
  19. Sprinkle each pan with 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt.
  20. Place each round of dough in a pan, top side down. Slide dough around pan to coat with oil and then flip dough over.
  21. Cover pans with plastic wrap and let rise 5 minutes at room temperature.
  22. Press dough out towards edge of pan with your fingertips. If dough resists, let rest 5-10 minutes and try again.
  23. Grab a dinner fork and poke each dough 25-30 times. Make sure you pop any large bubbles.
  24. Sprinkle rosemary over top of dough.
  25. Let dough rest at room temperature for 5-10 minutes until slightly bubbly.
  26. Place pans on baking stone and immediately lower oven temperature to 450 F.
  27. Bake until top is golden brown 25-28 minutes. Switch pan placement on stone halfway through.
  28. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack 5 minutes.
  29. Remove bread from pans and return to wire rack. If any oil remains in pan, brush that on loaves.
  30. Cool 30 minutes before serving.



I promise this focaccia recipe is worth all those annoying steps. I've made it a handful of times and it always come out fantastic. 

How do you feel about bread?

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Meal Plan 11/1-11/7


Last week we enjoyed chicken parmigiana, pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, rosemary focaccia, ground beef tacos, prosciutto pizza, and chocolate raspberry ice cream. A couple of meals did not get cooked due to leftovers and Halloween!


Monday: spaghetti with Marinara sauce, green salad, homemade wheat bread
Tuesday: chicken breast with bacon and boursin (from My Kitchen in the Rockies)
Wednesday: picadillo with white rice
Thursday: pork chops with herbed rice 
Friday: prosciutto pizza made with homemade dough
Saturday: chicken paella
Sunday: leftovers


Desserts: mamey ice cream, chocolate chip cookies

I reserve the right to make deletions and substitutions due to laziness!


If you are in need of further inspiration, check out the weekly Menu Plan Monday post over at I'm an Organizing Junkie.



Sunday, October 31, 2010

Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream


Betty Crapper must confess. I have an addiction that is insidious and unforgiving. I must have my weakness daily. Some days the need for chocolate is so overwhelming that the bittersweet chocolate chips I usually consume by the handful are not enough.

A few days ago, my addiction forced me to make chocolate raspberry ice cream. That's right. My addiction made me do it. 

Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream
(adapted from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
5 tbsp unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen
1 tbsp Chambord black raspberry liqueur

Whisk together the cream, cocoa powder, and sugar in a large saucepan. Heat, whisking often, until it comes to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and add the raspberries. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Puree the mixture. If desired, strain to remove the seeds. Chill the mixture for several hours or overnight. Freeze in your ice cream maker.

Notes
  • I didn't strain the mixture due to Betty Crapper's inherent laziness. Careful, those little seeds like to lodge themselves in between your teeth. Perhaps next time Betty Crapper will strain.
  • I would have used more Chambord, but all I had left was 1 tbsp. If I make this again I will definitely use a bit more and update this post with my impression.
  • I found this ice cream paired perfectly with my unfrosted, warm chocolate cake. The combination was enough to satisfy my chocolate craving. I wasn't wowed by the ice cream alone.
  • Chocolate raspberry ice cream has not replaced my favorite ice cream.
I may need some sort of 12-step program. What do you think?

Friday, October 29, 2010

Edible Garden Festival & Giveaway Winner

This is my favorite time of year in South Florida. Hurricane season will soon be over and the humidity is on it's way out. Pause, and imagine me doing a happy dance! I look forward to this time of year for many reasons. Chief among them are the produce stands that will soon be bustling with activity. In the months to come I'll introduce you to some of my favorites.

Here in South Florida the temperature is becoming more and more comfortable. It is now tolerable to be outside longer than it takes to dash from one air-conditioned venue to another. I love going to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden this time of year. Last Saturday, I attended the Edible Garden Festival at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden with my mother, aunt, cousin, and 14 month old daughter.

Fairchild holds several festivals each year and my favorites are the upcoming Ramble (11/12-11/14) and the International Chocolate Festival in January.

This past weekend, I was on a mission. I headed straight for the organic heirloom tomato starts from Bee Heaven Farm. They had 66 varieties for sale.



I've never grown tomatoes before, but I knew I wanted to try. If you have any tips, suggestions, or words of encouragement please share. They are most definitely welcome because there are now some tomato plants resting comfortably in my very first square foot garden.


I also left Fairchild with a few things from Redland Herb Farm. Herbs I can grow. Usually, my herbs live happily on my covered terrace in pots. This year, some will reside in my square foot garden. At least I'll be certain something will grow in there and my efforts won't be a total failure.


Giveaway Winner!

There were 144 comments on my Stovetop Espresso Maker & Cuban Coffee Giveaway post. Thank you everyone for entering. I enjoyed sharing one of my favorite things and am looking forward to sharing another giveaway soon.

 

Random.org selected the number corresponding to MM's comment. Congratulations MM!!! The winner has been confirmed and the goodies are on their way. I am holding MM to her promise of making espresso brownies and blogging about them over at Ms. enPlace.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and Happy Halloween! Tomorrow my father-in-law is building me the support my baby tomato plants will one day need. He is the best father-in-law ever and I am very lucky indeed. Sunday, we'll be enjoying Halloween with friends. What are your weekend plans?