I have this cookbook, from the little shop around the corner from my grandfather's place in London, called Ottoloenghi: The cookbook. I've made a couple of the salads, and they've been pretty delicious, so I thought I'd try something from a section other than the salad section. Paging through to the back, the baking section had some really pretty pictures of focaccia. That seemed like a good idea, and reading about the grape and fennel seed topping, that seemed like something different enough that I'd never come up with it on my own. May as well try it! It sounded like it would make a sweet bread, something you could eat for breakfast, or almost as dessert, but I wasn't too daunted (although Ed said it sounded pretty gross). This being an English cookbook, they were talking about grams and milliliters, luckily I have the google to help me figure out conversions.
The end result was addictingly delicious. The dough was chewy yet soft, with a crunch on the top and bottom, and a beautiful mix of sweet and savory and salty. I couldn't stop until I got halfway through the first loaf. So, as weird a combination as this sounds - try it! It's worth it. It passed the Ed-rating, despite his initial reluctance.
Grape and Fennel Seed Focaccia
Made two round flat loaves
Starter:
1.5C flour
1.75C warm water
1.5 tsp yeast
Dough:
1.5-2C flour
1 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs kosher salt
Topping:
~1C red grapes, halved
2tsp fennel seeds
1/4C granulated sugar
1tsp kosher salt
You'll need a lot of resting time for this recipe - it was 6 hours total of rising time, so be sure to plan that in. The starter has to rise for two hours, and then the dough has to rise for 2 hours, and then after shaping it, it has to rise for another hour.
To make the start, mix together the water, yeast, and flour, cover with a damp cloth, and let it sit somewhere warm for two hours, until it's doubled in size. It'll be pretty cool-looking, with bubbles that are sort of moving, like it's alive...
Add the rest of the dough ingredients to the starter, and mix that around. I found this too slack to work by hand, even with the extra half cup of flour, so I stirred with a solid spoon for as long as I had the strength to do so, and then let it sit for another two hours. By the end of that, it had doubled in bulk again, and was very loosey goosey. I dumped the dough out onto a floured surface, cut it in half, and tried to stretch each half out into a circle. I wasn't that great at making a circle, and then it stretched again when I transferred it. I lined each baking pan with coarse corn meal, and plopped on the lopsided circles of dough.
This then has to sit and relax and rise for another hour.
Then, I poked down with my fingers, to make it ridge-y and knobbly. Mix together the sugar, salt, and fennel seeds. Brush on some olive oil, dot with grapes (cut length-wise), and sprinkle on the sugar-salt -fennel seed mixture.
Bake at 450F for 10 minutes, then turn down the heat to 375 and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment