Kelly the Culinarian: Stand mixer Sunday: Rosemary focaccia with chipotle mayo

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Stand mixer Sunday: Rosemary focaccia with chipotle mayo

Hello ladies and gentlemen! I hope you had a wonderful week. I tried to bring some sunshine back with me from my cruise, but customs intercepted it. Sorry!

I can't wait to share the food and attractions this week, but let's get back to routine with this week's stand mixer recipe. I've tried this focaccia a few times and it was a hit -- nice a chewy as well as salty. It's perfect for sandwiches, so perfect that Panera uses it and charges $7 for their bistro sandwiches. Never fear, I've cracked the code.

First, the focaccia:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/8 teaspoon instant yeast
2 cups minus 2 Tablespoons warm, filtered water
3/4 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon table salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary needles
2 tablespoons sea or kosher salt

To start the dough, mix the flour, yeast, sugar and water with a dough hook on the lowest setting. Add the water gradually and mix on the No. 2 setting until incorporated, about three minutes. The dough will be a bit thin. Then turn it up to setting No. 4 and let it rip for 20 minutes or so, until the dough is a shiny ball like fresh mozarella. It's really important to allow it to mix for quite some time in order to develop the glutens and such.
Put the ball in a greased bowl and allow to rise until doubled, about four hours. Take out a half-sheet baking pan and use one Tablespoon of the oil to coat the surface. Pour out the dough and try to stretch it to fill the pan without breaking it. Let it rest for 10 minutes, then try again to get it to fill the whole sheet without tearing or crushing the bubbles in the dough.
Let it rise for another hour, until it's about doubled. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees with a rack on the lowest level. Put a baking sheet on that too to preheat.
Use your fingertips to create little dimples in the dough. Top the focaccia with the remaining olive oil and dust with the salt (I like my focaccia salty). Don't sprinkle the rosemary on top or it will just fall off -- stick the needles into the dough.
Place the sheet pan on top of the baking pan. Also, place another metal dish with ice cubes in the oven. This helps keep the bread moist and develops a crust. But don't use a glass dish or you'll be using garden gloves to clean a million little shards of glass out of your semi-hot oven ... I've been there.
Bake for 12 to 13 minutes or until it's golden brown.

If you'd like to make a sandwich out of the tasty results, try this chipotle mayo, which is similar to what you'd get at Panera.
1/2 cup mayonaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 chopped chipotle chilies in adobo sauce

Mix all the ingredients together and refridgerate overnight to let the flavors combine.

Happy eating!

4 comments:

Anamika:The Sugarcrafter said...

Hey Kelly thanks for cracking the code and presenting before us. Nice post and a must try !

David Hall said...

Focaccia, delish! Love the stuff, Italian bread is the works. Hope life is good.

Cheers
David

Larramie said...

Love focaccia...just plain. There are these fabulous Italian restaurants in NYC's Little Italy that you really must try on your next vacation!

daphne said...

yummy bread! Kelly- u hv been in the bread mode recently =)