Monday, February 4, 2013

Tuesdays With Julie and Dorie: Focaccia


SUCH A VERSATILE BREAD--A KEEPER RECIPE!
This bread was a hit on our Superbowl food table.  Lots of hungry people at my house who agree that it's not beer that goes better with football, but it is food!  I'm sure we went through more food on Sunday than we did on Thanksgiving, the biggest food day of the year...used to be.  

My refrigerated dough took a long time to rise...like forever.  Must have been too cold on this winter day.  (I know you all think we enjoy perpetual spring here in our AZ winter...but it does feel cold to us.  70^ is nice if you are Cher living in Upstate New York, but is cold to us.)  I love to bake bread here in AZ in the summer.  Most people quit cooking because of the heat, but I love to bake bread...it rises in about a quarter of the time...so I have this recipe on my calendar again for May...it will be 100^ by then.

I made 6 baking sheets of focaccia with a variety of toppings and melted cheeses.  It was all eaten except for this one, which I kept plain  (just brushed with freshly cut herbs infused olive oil) and hidden for today's use.  It is day old, reheated, cut in half like a layer cake being cut to form two layers, and then the fun began.  I brushed herb infused olive oil on each inside half and then melted cheese on each side, grilled a variety of fresh veges, added pan-fried ham, sliced a pickle, picked fresh garden lettuce and we enjoyed an amazing meal.  

The photo is my sandwich portion which is about 7" X 5" and I ate every bite!  3 of us ate this left-over, day-old bread sandwich and we all agreed that it is delicious!!! 

I used different flours on each batch, just to compare the results.  The photo is from 100% high gluten bread flour.  It is more chewy, but not as "bubbly."  Focaccia using 1/2 bread and 1/2 all purpose flours was much lighter and more airy; picking up that bread was a real difference in how much lighter it felt, and I also tried only all purpose flour which was airy, a little more crumbly, but still very good, and it rose faster than the higher gluten, more coarse doughs.  For hearty sandwiches I would go with the 1/2 and 1/2 flours.  No complaints with any of my combos...all are amazing, just a little different.

I know this is good.  Hubby asked me to slice his sandwich in half as he could not eat such a huge portion.  Within a couple of minutes both halves had been devoured.  And Hubby saves his calories for the weekend...he almost never eats a large portion during the week.  This recipe is a winner.  Even love it when it is day-old!

Hope you all enjoyed success...I have a feeling that overall this recipe will be "a keeper!"

18 comments:

  1. What a beautiful sandwich!!!! So yummy!!!
    I'm agree it's definitely a keeper!!!

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  2. Krissy, it is early morning here and I have not had breakfst and now that I have read through your post I am so hungry for one of your Focaccia sandwiches - it looks so delicious with that melted cheese, grilled vegetables, ham and pickles. I do like the versatility of this Italian bread and it is so nice to read that you and your entire family really enjoyed this Focaccia. Thanks also for the tips on the different flours - I am forever debating which flour is the best to use for different breads.
    Have a great Tuesday!

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  3. That looks like a really delicious sandwich! Well done on the focaccia.

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  4. What a great photo, Kris - I really wanted to reach for your sandwich! I'm sure no one can get enough of your homemade deliciousness!

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  5. Good to hear that the focaccia was such a hit! Yours looks like a terrific dough for sandwiches (which is what I was kinda hoping for!), and the sandwich itself looks mighty tasty. Well done!

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  6. Oh man, that sandwich looks tasty.

    And yes, 70 sounds amazing. It was 5 this morning when I left for work. Right now, its a balmy 24, but its expected to be back in the single digits by morning.

    And I agree - the food is the best part! (I made a huge batch of buffalo chicken nachos for my football watchers - and then snuck upstairs to watch Downton Abbey)

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  7. Right now with our temperture at 21 degrees, I’m not feeling real sorry for you, Kris! Although I do understand what you’re saying. Your focaccia looks beautiful...as does your sandwich…totally yummy!

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  8. Oh my! Your sandwich made with the focaccia looks fantastic!!!! I so wanted to do that, but didn't feel my bread worked well enough to do that.
    So cool that you tried it with different flours. Thanks for sharing how they each worked out. (very interesting)

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  9. I loved that you made this three times with all the different combos of flours! Awesome flavor combos and the sandwich looks delicious. I love, love focaccia sandwiches. This will not be a repeat for us since I have better recipes for focaccia, but I am glad you loved it.

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  10. Wow, thanks for all your experimentation! I bought some veggies to roast for a sandwich, but the bread was gone before I got to making one! I can't wait till it's 70º here :)

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  11. I am impressed that you made this with three different combinations of flour. And I wish I could have seen your Superbowl focaccias!

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  12. Oh, I missed this one and I'm sad. Your sandwich looks like what I want for lunch today. Great post. I'm making this today!

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  13. That is one delicious looking focaccia sandwich, and something to aspire to when we will be making it again. We also loved this recipe and agree with you, that it even tastes great a day later.

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  14. I can't believe you made 6 sheets of focaccia! :) How wonderful for you and your family and I bet it was so delicious and perfect for the Super Bowl. I thought this made the best sandwich bread and I am glad that you thought so also. I would love to have your sandwich right now. It looks delicious!

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  15. Wow! You made so many and so many varieties! Impressive! Glad it went over well! It does make great sandwich bread.

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  16. Goodness, you became a regular focaccia bakery women for a few days and that sandwich looks totally delicious!

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  17. Fabulous sandwich! I can't believe how many focaccias you made!

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  18. Woww.. looks super yummy and perfect.. thanks for sharing this.
    Modular Kitchen Collection

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