Homemade Focaccia with Sea Salt and Rosemary

Focaccia

3 ½ cups 00 Flour or unbleached flour

1 packet instant yeast

1 ½ teaspoons sea salt for dough, more for topping

1 1/2 cups warm (100 degree) water, plus extra as needed

Extra-virgin olive oil for the bowl

2-3 tablespoons freshly chopped rosemary

3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil for top of focaccia

Drizzle thick balsamic vinegar

Making the dough:

Place the flour, yeast, and salt in the bowl or use a food processor and pulse. With the machine running, add enough warm water to make soft dough that does not stick to the sides of the processor bowl; pulse for 30-45 seconds. If the dough is dry, add a little more water. When you have dough a formed, transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead 5-8 minutes until the dough bounces back at the tough using your thumb. Shape into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl; cover with a kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rest and rise at room temperature 2-3 hours.

Baking the dough:

When you are ready to bake the focaccia, preheat the oven with a baking stone if available to 500F. It’s best to bake at the convection setting.

Drizzle a little oil on a baking sheet if you don’t have a baking stone.  Stretch the dough  on the baking sheet.  If the dough is not relaxed the dough may not stretch.  Just leave the semi-stretch dough on the baking sheet and cover again with a kitchen towel for about 30-45 minutes.  Uncover and stretch the dough again, it should stretch easily. You do not need to stretch the dough perfectly to fit the shape of the baking sheet, rustic is better!

Once the dough is stretched on the baking sheet, drizzle the olive oil all over the focaccia, sprinkle with sea salt and fresh rosemary.  Transfer the focaccia to the hot oven and bake about 15-20 minutes until the dough is golden on the bottom and lightly golden on the top. Remove from oven and baking sheet and cut into squares.  For a delicious finish, drizzle an aged or thick balsamic on top.

 

00 flour

Tip: if the dough is still a little sticky when removed from the bowl or processor, sprinkle some flour on the surface and knead the flour in. Keep repeating this process until you have supple dough. 

 

Fig Marmalade or Preserve

I love adding fig preserve on top of the focaccia when it comes out of the oven hot, and then serving it as a dessert with a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Enjoy!

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Dried Figs with Gorgonzola and Pine Nuts

Dried Figs with Gorgonzola cheese and Pine nuts

12 or more moist whole dried black mission figs

3 or more ounces creamy Gorgonzola cheese

Freshly ground black pepper

12 or more toasted pine nuts

With your thumb, press down on the middle of the fig.  Make an indentation large enough to fit the cheese.  You can stuff as much cheese in the indentation as you wish. With a teaspoon add the cheese, black pepper, and top with a toasted pine nut.

Dried Black Mission Figs

 An afternoon,  I was searching for a snack and couldn’t decide what I wanted. Did I want something sweet? Did I want something savory? Dried figs are always in the pantry, and I had some leftover Gorgonzola from a class, so I put them together and decided that I could have both, the sweet and savory. There it was a new recipe for me to try at parties. I've made them since many times for my clients and cooking classes, and everyone seems to absolutely LOVE them!

It’s an easy dish to prepare that will delight and impress your guest. Each bite is memorable. I can’t explain memorable because you have to taste it to understand what I mean.

If you cannot find moist figs, place the dried figs in a small pan with warm water on low heat for a few minutes, add a little bit of sugar, and cook until they moisten. Strain and pat dry. 

honey

By the way, I also serve these as a dessert with a little drizzle of honey on top. Stickily delicious!

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My New Year's Eve Menu

After the hussle and bussle of the Christmas holidays, I like to prepare a quiet dinner for four with my husband and our best friends, John and Janie for New Year's Eve.  We make our favorite dishes and eat them one by one until the strike of midnight or even beyond.  We listen to our favorite music while cooking and eating, drink Prosecco with Cassis and Pomegranate seeds,and have good wine to pair with each course.This year we decided on simple and tasty seafood recipes to celebrate the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013.  I didn't prepare these dishes from recipes, I love to create them, and get instant feedback from my little group.  Once created and tasted, I them write the recipes.
I'm still writing these recipes, so stay tuned for them on my blog.

Here are some of  the pictures of recipes prepared for our New Year's Eve menu:

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