Just Dough It!

It’s early Summer & thoughts turn to sunny weekends & lazy days, sipping something refreshing in the garden & eating delicious food together.  The comforting fragrance of freshly baked bread, garden-grown herbs & sweet garlic wafting through the air, always reminds me of sunny picnics on the patio.  While the Husband is gardening his socks off (with refreshing intermissions of something chilled), I enjoy creating a few treats for us to indulge in later.

A favourite nibble is slender squares of fresh focaccia, warm from the oven & dunked in a dish of extra virgin olive oil & dark treacley Balsamic vinegar.  Simply topped with herbs, garlic & sparkly shards of sea salt, this fluffy delight is always welcome!  This version is a fabulously fruity version, topped with ripe baby tomatoes.  As they bake, they become darker, slightly softened & a little jammy, resembling cabachon rubies mounted in a golden cloud of fluffy focaccia.  Pardon my poetics, but this type of food can be inspiring!  Ready to bake it happen?  Hands washed, aprons on & let’s dough it!

What you need:

500g Strong White Bread Flour (plus extra for kneading & dusting)
12g Yeast (dried or fresh if you prefer)
330ml Lukewarm Water (dip a finger in it & it should be just warm)
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (plus extra for drizzling)
Half a teaspoon ground Sea Salt
12 Baby Plum or Cherry Tomatoes (washed, dried & halved)
1 sprig Rosemary (preferably fresh but dried is fine)
3-4 cloves Fresh Garlic, chopped finely
Sea Salt & Black Pepper
1 tablespoon Coarse Semolina (for your baking tray)

What to do:

Firstly, pre-heat your oven to 220*C – it’s going to need a good hour to get hot enough.

Prepare a large baking tray by sprinkling with a little coarse semolina, to stop your dough sticking (you can use a little flour instead if you prefer).  If you’re filling the tray, use one with a little lip around the edge to contain your bread, otherwise a flat one will do for free-form focaccia.

Next, dissolve the yeast in the water & give it a good firm stir, until blended into a pale muddy coloured liquid.

Mix the flour & salt separately in a large mixing bowl, making a dip in the centre.

Add the olive oil & pour in the yeast liquid, then bring everything together until you get a soft, sticky dough.

Scoop everything onto a lightly floured worktop, leaving a clean bowl.  Dust a little flour into the bottom of the bowl & set aside for later.

Knead the dough for about ten minutes, stretching it by pushing away with the heel of your hand & pulling it back over itself.  Turn the dough slightly & repeat.  If you’ve got a good sticky dough, you might need a dusting of flour occasionally as you’re doing this – be careful not to overdo this, otherwise it will alter the recipe & become unpleasant.  Remember, the effort you put into the kneading now will result in a fluffy, well-risen bread later, so give it some elbow grease – just think of those toned arms!

Once kneaded, pop your dough back in the bowl to prove.  Dust lightly with a little flour.

Smudge a few spots of olive oil on a sheet of clingfilm & loosely place over the top of the bowl.

Place somewhere warm & draught-free to rise for at least an hour (a warm airing cupboard is good if you have one).  If you can leave it longer, then do so.  Sometimes, I’ll make the dough in the morning & let it prove all day, ready for baking in the evening – all the kneading will make the dough silky smooth, soft & pliable.

When your dough has doubled in size, it’s ready for the next stage.  Simply take the oiled film off & scoop your dough onto a lightly floured work surface, making sure you remove all remnants from the bowl (you’ve put a lot of work into this, so don’t waste any!).

Give it light kneading for a few seconds, just to knock out any large bubbles that may have formed.  On a very lightly floured worktop, roll & stretch your dough to fit your tin, until about half an inch thick.

Carefully place your dough into the tin & drizzle olive oil across the top, gently smoothing it across with your hands.  Using your knuckles, make dimples all over your dough.

Dot the tomato halves all over the top, round side up & sprinkle evenly with the chopped garlic, a good pinch of freshly ground black pepper & sea salt.  Remove the Rosemary leaves from the stem & either leave whole or chop roughly, before sprinkling them on top too.

Bake in the top of the oven for about 10-12 minutes, until your bread is lightly golden & the tomato skins have turned a dark crimson.

To check if your focaccia is cooked, lift it up carefully at one end & tap the bottom – if it sounds hollow, it’s ready!

Remove from the baking tray & slide onto a cooling rack.  While it’s still warm, drizzle with more olive oil & give it a couple of minutes to cool slightly.

Transfer to a chopping board & slice into focaccia fingers, ready for dipping & devouring!  Add a few accompaniments & turn it into a mini feast – try a few sundried tomatoes, fragrant olives, salami, Proscuitto & a few cheeses.   Place the board in the centre of the table & let people help themselves.  Perfect for a relaxed afternoon treat or a light lunch.  Next time you’re feeling kneady, just dough it!  Stay hungry!  Aimee 😉 x

La vita non e’fatta di solo pane (you cannot live on bread alone), but you can bake it!

During my extreme shopping trip today (which is where I hit three supermarkets before 10.00am like some sort of ninja with a trolley), a couple of people asked me about baking bread & how come it’s so hard/messy/time-consuming (you get the picture).   My reply:  it’s not (well, it’s not the way I do it).

Firstly, I don’t possess a bread making machine (save your money – buy a pasta machine instead).  I make all my bread by hand – I’m not built like a brick shed with muscles & you don’t need to be either.   Baking bread is like creating some sort of magic in the kitchen!  There really is nothing quite like that heady, warm scent of a freshly baked loaf – especially if you’ve made it yourself.  Both my Husband & Son bake bread – I taught my Son this recipe when he was at junior school (which he proudly told his teacher was better than her packet bread mix & refused to make it – she wasn’t impressed!).

Now I’m not disputing that there are some beautiful artisan breads out there which take time, effort & years of experience, but if you just want some good, basic bread to feed your family, then this is for you.   It’s cheap, really easy & you get a free mini workout with every batch (“Yay – free stuff!” I hear you say).   So, let the floury fun commence!  Hands washed & aprons on!

What you need:

12g fresh Yeast (or the equivalent of dried)
500g Strong Bread Flour (plus a bit extra for dusting your worktop)
330ml (approx just over half a pint) lukewarm water (stick your finger in it & it should be the same temperature)
Half a teaspoon of ground Sea Salt
A little Olive/Sunflower Oil or melted Butter – to brush around the inside of your loaf tins
2 loaf tins (standard size) – you can do it free-form too, just dust a baking tray with a little flour
Cling film

Optional ingredients:

2 tablespoons Olive/Sunflower Oil – this is down to individual taste, but I personally prefer Olive Oil
Seeds/herbs/dried fruit – you can put whatever you like in (my favourite is to mix a teaspoonful of poppy, linseed, sesame & pumpkin seeds together or add a tablespoon each of tea-soaked Sultanas, chopped Amareno Cherries, Stem Ginger & a little orange zest)

How to do it:

Dissolve the yeast in the water, which should go a light muddy colour (give it a good stir with a fork).

Put the flour & sea salt in a large mixing bowl, slowly pour in the yeast water (add the oil at this stage, if using) & stir into the flour until it forms a dough ball & the bowl is clean.  Sprinkle a little flour in the bottom of the bowl & set aside for later.

Dust some flour on a clean worktop, place the dough on it & start kneading – here’s your free mini workout!  Kneading is simply stretching the dough, making the gluten in the flour flexible & will make your bread rise well.  Give it ten minutes, firmly pushing the dough away from you with the heel of your hand, then pulling it back on itself. Once kneaded, it should feel more elastic, so just put it in the floured bowl, brush a bit of oil on some clingfilm & put this on top of the bowl (oiled side down), making sure there are no gaps.  Put it on a tray in the airing cupboard or a warm place, where there are no draughts & leave it for about half an hour.  This is called proving the dough.

Heat your oven to 220*C.  Brush the inside of your tins with a little oil & place on a baking tray.

Take the now risen dough from the airing cupboard (put the oiled cling film to one side) & put onto a floured worktop.  To knock out any large air bubbles, I like to throw it on the worktop a couple of times, knead it for a few seconds, then split it into two equal balls.  If you’re putting seeds/fruit/etc in, gently stretch it with your hands into a rectangle, sprinkle some seeds on a third, fold it over, sprinkle some more, fold it again, then sprinkle the rest.  Fold it gently again to distribute the seeds/fruit in the dough, shape it to fit your loaf tin & pop it in.  Repeat with the other dough ball.  Cover with the oiled clingfilm & leave for a further half hour to prove again.

Now you’re ready to bake!  Remove the clingfilm from the tins – the dough will have risen again & is ready to go into the oven.  Put the tray in the middle of the oven & bake for about half an hour.

Once done, it will be golden & risen above the tins, so just tip out onto a wire rack to cool.  To test if it’s cooked, give your loaf a tap on the bottom – it will sound hollow if it’s ready. Resist the urge to eat it before it’s cooled a bit!

Once cooled, slice it, spread it, dunk it & dip it! Whatever you do, share & enjoy it.   

As the old Italian saying goes “La vita non e’fatta di solo pane” (“You cannot live on bread alone”) – but you can bake it!   Stay hungry!  😉 A x