Bread Baking & Baby Smiles

Alistair had a great day of naps which left me with some free time for baking a new type of bread.

Recipe: Gael Glen Farm's Mushroom Focaccia Bread

Ingredients

For the dough:
2 cups lukewarm water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
5 sprigs fresh herbs, chopped and divided
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus coarse sea salt for sprinkling
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided

For the brine:
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/3 cup lukewarm water

For the topping:

1 lb mushroom, half chopped, half sliced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

Directions

In a large bowl combine the water, yeast, and sugar. Add in 2 teaspoons of the chopped herbs, half the flour, and the salt, stir to combine. Add 1/2 cup olive oil. Gradually add in the remaining flour until a slightly sticky dough forms.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let ferment at room temperature until doubled in size. At this point you can refrigerate the dough for several days until ready to bake.

Coat a rimmed half sheet pan with the remaining 1/2 cup olive oil. Turn the dough onto the pan and begin pressing it out with your fingertips to fit the size of the pan. Coax and stretch the dough to fit the pan. Spread your fingers to make little dimples all the way through the dough. 

Make the brine:

Combine the warm water and salt together until the salt is dissolved. Pour all over the dough to make little pools of water in the dimples. Allow to rise again until the dough is puffy, about 45 minutes.

Make the mushrooms:

Chop and saute mushrooms and garlic (preferably those you have picked from your own garden or mushroom patch - haha) until all the liquid has absorbed and the garlic is browned.  Let cool.

Baking:

Place a baking stone in the oven and preheat to 450°F.

Sprinkle the dough with coarse sea salt, the remaining herbs, and the mushroom mixture. 

Bake with the sheet pan on top of stone until the focaccia is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Slice and serve warm.

Alistair approves; too bad he is still too little to try it.

Citation

Inspired by: https://www.handletheheat.com/focaccia-bread/