Focaccia Bread with Rosemary

1 teaspoon dry yeast

2 cups of lukewarm water

4 cups spelt, whole wheat, or unbleached wheat flour (amount of flour may be adjusted  depending on type of flour used)

1 teaspoon sea salt

6 tablespoons of olive oil

Topping

4 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of crushed fresh rosemarry leaves

coarse sea salt 

Directions

Place yeast in a bowl with 1 cup of lukewarm water and stir until dissolved.  Add remaining water, oil salt and flour and mix well.  Cover bowl and let rise in warm place until double in size.  Knead dough on floured surface and add more flour if needed to make a shiny and elastic dough.  Place dough in an oiled  9 in. pan.  Press dough into pan and let it rise for at least 1/2 hour.  When risen, make many deep holes in dough with finger, and brush on topping.  

Bake 425 F for 20-30 minutes.

And Batta Bing!  You have the most amazing bread ever!

Add the flour little by little until the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl.

You mix it with your hands, it’s supposed to be sticky.

I added the firs 4 cups of flour, I added another cup and a half.

Here we go!  Here we go!  Here we go!  Kneading dough!  Kneading dough!  Kneading dough!

For those of you who are wondering…Yes, I still have that sweatshirt.

You knead it until it’s not sticky anymore.  

Expect 10-15 minutes.

Roll it in a bowl with a little oil, to coat the dough.

Cover it and put it into a warm place to rise.

One more look.

First rise, doubled in size.

Punch it down.

You scrape it out and knead it on a floured surface for a few more minutes.  Let it rest 5 minutes.

It should more or less look like this.

Take a rolling pin, and roll the ball out flat.

You roll it up.

Like this.

Pin the ends underneath it.

Place it in a greased pan.  Don’t grease it with oil, it will just absorb into the bread, and you won’t be able to get your loaf out of the pan.  Use butter or soy margarine, or shortening.

Place it in a warm place for the second rising.

It’s just like a cooking show!  Take note, this bread has risen too much, it’s starting to spill over the sides.

Place in the oven.  I know it’s started sinking.

Hmmmmmm.

So here it is.  Let bread cool completely before you cut it, or the top will come off.

It’s delicious, but not the County Fair winner.

The real test….

ALL RIGHT!

Now, give it a shot for yourself.  Bread is fun, easy and delicious.  If you choose to make some, please share your results with the readers, to spur a Bread Revolution!

The recipe is for your basic white bread, I use whole wheat flour for it’s nutritional qualities, and it works just fine.  

Basic White: Template for Breadmaking

The instructions for making basic white bread can be used as a guild for almost all other yeast breads.  Master it, and you will be on your way to mastering the entire art of breadmaking from the simplest recipes to the most complex.  

2 cups milk (I used water)

1 tbsp. salt

2 tbsp. butter (or soy margarine for you vegans)

1 package of dry yeast (a tablespoon if you get bulk yeast)

1/2 cup warm water (105 F-115 F)

2 tbsp. sugar (or honey)

6-7 cups unsifted hard wheat flour or all purpose white flour

Making the dough

Heat the milk, salt, and butter in a saucepan until bubbles appear around the edges of the pan.  Remove from heat and let cool to about 110 F.

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a large mixing bowl.  Make sure the water is not more than 115 F: higher temperatures will kill the yeast.  To test the temperature touch a drop of water to your wrist; it should feel only slightly warm.  Now add the sugar, stir well and set aside for 5-10 minutes to “proof” the yeast; that is, to see if it is alive (if it is, small bubbles will appear on the surface).  Once the mixture is proofed, stir in the mixture of milk, salt, and butter.

Add 3 cups of flour.  Stir to mix, then stir with a wooden spoon until smooth-about 2 minutes.  Gradually add more flour, mixing it in with your hands until the dough tends to leave the sides of the bowl.  The secret to making bread is to use as little flour as possible and still be able to handle the dough; any flour beyond this amount will tend to make the bread heavy and tough.  Remember that the amount of flour given in a bread recipe can only be an approximation, since flours vary greatly in their ability to absorb moisture, differing from one local to another and from batch to batch.  Experience will help you judge the correct amount.  

Kneading the dough

The purpose of kneading is to distribute the yeast cells throughout the dough.  Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured board, marble slab, or countertop.  Sprinkle the dough lightly with flour.  Knead by folding the dough toward you, then push down with the heels of your hands.  Fold the dough over again, give it a quarter turn, and repeat the kneading; try to develop a rhythmic motion.  Continue turning and kneading for 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.  To test the dough to see if it has been sufficiently kneaded, press two fingers into it about 1/2 inch deep; the dough should spring back.  Sometimes blisters will form on the dough, another sign that the dough has been kneaded enough.  Form the dough into a ball.  

First Rising

Grease a large mixing bowl with about 1 tbsp. of softened butter.  This will keep the surface from drying out and cracking as the dough rises.  Cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (80 F-85 F) for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.  If the room is cold, put the dough in a bowl, cover, and place the bowl in a pilot lighted oven, or on a rack over a pan of hot water, or near (not on) a radiator.  If you have a wood stove, the warming oven over the range is ideal for rising.  

To test if the dough has risen sufficiently, make an indentation by pressing two fingers into the dough about 1/2 in. deep.  If dough does not spring back, it is ready.  If the dough has risen a little too much, it will not be seriously affected; however, excessive rising can change the texture and flavor of the finished product.

Punch the dough down with your fist to deflate it.  Turn it out on a lightly floured board, then knead well about two minutes.  Cut the dough in half with a sharp knife and shape each half into a smooth ball.  cover with a towel and let rise for about 5 minutes.  

Shaping the dough

Use a rolling pin to shape each ball into a 9- by 12-in. rectangle, then roll the dough up tightly, press the ends together to seal them, and fold the ends so they are underneath the rolls.  Lift the loaves carefully and place them in the greased pans with their seem sides down.

Second Rising

Brush the top of each loaf with 1/2 tbsp. melted butter.  Cover pans with a towel.  Let rise as before in a warm, draft-free place until the dough has doubled in volume or when a finger pressed lightly near the edge leaves the dent.  The purpose of the second rising is to give the dough a finer grain.  This rising will take less time than the first rising; 3/4 to 1 1/4 hours it typical.

In case of an interruption

If at anytime during the first or second rising you cannot complete the breadmaking, punch the dough down as you did in the first rising, and place it in a buttered bowl.  Set a clean plate on top of the dough, weigh it down with a brick or another heavy object, and place the bowl in the refrigerator.  The cold plus the weight will bring the action of the yeast almost to a halt.

Baking the Bread

For glazed loaves, gently beat one egg yolk with one tablespoon of milk.  Lightly brush the top of each loaf with the mixture just before putting it into the oven.

 Bake  the loaves 40- 50 minutes on the lower rack of the oven that has been pre-heated to 400 F.  Place the bread pans so that their tops are as close to the center of the oven as possible.  In order to permit adequate circulation of hot air, however, the pan should not touch each other or the sides of the oven.  To check if the bread is ready, tap the top of a loaf with your middle finger;  it should sound hollow.  If it is soft on the bottom, return the loaf to the pan, bake an additional 5-10 minutes, and test again.

Remove the pans from the oven, turn the loaves on their sides on a rack, and place in a draft-free place.  For easy slicing, the bread should cool completely- about two to three hours.  To store the bread, put it in plastic bags and tie securely or keep it in a bread box or freezer.  Bread will keep at least a month in the freezer.

And there you have it.  I challenge all of you readers out there to use this recipe and share your experiences in the comment sections of this blog.  Bread is fun, don’t be afraid….PEACE.