Focaccia from Scratch! February 27, 2010

After making pizza last week and reading all about the adventures of a baker, I really wanted to try making yeast doughs by hand. Usually when I want bread I just toss it all in the bread machine and enjoy the delicious smell and wait for it to beep, but I must say, making bread by hand is really quite fun and soothing! Who knew?

We had a mega snowfall yesterday and as a result, I was not going anywhere! So I figured trying to make Focaccia was as good a plan as any. This recipe comes from that awesome book I recently read, Confections of a Closet Master Baker. She says you can use the basic dough to make rolls or pizza as well as the focaccia. The recipe I made is for a basic rosemary focaccia but you can add any other topping you like…sun dried tomatoes, carmelized onions, whatever floats yer boat! It was really easy to make and oh man, does it taste good! We ate ours with my famous pasta fagioli and it was fantastic. Soup recipe to come soon, don’t worry!!

Focaccia

one 1/4 oz. package active dry yeast (2 2 1/2 tsp)

5 c. all purpose flour, plus extra for kneading

1/4 c. plus 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil plus extra for bowl and pan

2 1/2 tsp table salt

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

1 tsp coarse sea salt

Method:

Stir together 1 2/3 c. lukewarm (105 degrees to 115 degrees) water and the yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer and let stand until foamy, five minutes. *Uh, mine didn’t really foam, but I proceeded and it still worked so its probably okay!

Add the flour, 1/4 c. of the oil and table salt and beat with the paddle attachment at medium speed until a dough begins to form. Switch to the dough hook attachment (which was exiting for me as I’ve never used it before!) and knead at low speed until the dough is soft, smooth and sticky…about 3 minutes. DON’T OVERKNEAD!

Lightly oil a large bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand another 1 or 2 tbsp of flour. Knead it for another minute (it should be slightly sticky), and transfer to the bowl. Turn the dough to coat it with the oil in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm spot in the room until doubled in bulk, about 1 or 1 1/2 hours.

Generously oil a large cookie sheet. Press the dough evenly into the pan, but try not to make indentations at this point or it will not rise again! Cover the pan completely with a damp kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm corner of the room until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 425. Stir together the rosemary and remaining oil. Make shallow indentations all over the dough with your fingertips, then brush with the rosemary oil, letting it pool in the indentations. Sprinkle sea salt evenly over the focaccia and bake in the middle of the oven until golden, 20 to 23 minutes.

Remove from pan and let cool a bit on a rack. You can eat this warm or at room temperature. It’s great dunked into soup!

crockpot chicken cordon bleu

This is one of the very first recipes I ever made!! When I was still in high school I bought myself a crock pot. Reading over that sentence, I sort of sound like a freak! But, I really wanted one! And so, I bought it. I had no real clue what to do with one, and so I searched the internet for a good recipe. I wanted to try something fancy, and chicken cordon bleu just SOUNDS fancy, right? The result was the one I still use today!

It’s actually very very easy to make, so it is perfect if you are just starting to get into cooking, particularly crock pot cooking. I must admit, it doesn’t look all that gorgeous, but trust me, it is deliciously tasty! It also has a very short cook time, so you can decide you want to eat it at 4pm and still enjoy it by 6:30 or so!

Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu

package of thin chicken cutlets, or regular chicken breasts, flattened

5 slices of ham

5 slices of swiss cheese

about 4 tbsp flour

about 4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

can of cream of chicken soup

whatever white wine you’ve got (you will fill the can with it, roughly 1 cup)

1 tbsp olive oil

toothpicks or kitchen string

Method:

Rinse off the chicken breasts. If you could not find ones that are already thin, flatten them with a heavy pot. Wrap them in plastic and smack them til they are thin and even. It’s fun to work out your aggression, though I usually just buy the flat ones these days, they always have them at my supermarket and they cost the same as the chubby guys.

Lay out the chicken breasts in a row and make an assembly line to add the cheese and ham. WASH YOUR HANDS once the chickens are laid you…you don’t want to contaminate the cheese and ham! I usually set up the correct amount of cheese and ham first though and put away the remainder just in case, you don’t want nasty chicken toxins on your lunchmeat! Layer one slice of cheese followed by one slice of ham on each chicken…if the chickens are thin you can sort of break the meat and cheese to fit right, you don’t want to have anything hanging over the edge of the meat! Roll each chicken up tightly and secure shut with a toothpick or some twine.

In a small bowl, prepare the coating. Mix the flour, parmesan , salt and pepper together. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan with high sides to prevent splattering. Roll each chicken bundle in the flour mixture, coating evenly and add to the hot pan. Sear each side of the chicken for a few minutes, until they are browned. Remove from the pan and add to the crock pot.

In the crock add the can of cream of chicken soup and a half a can of water. Fill the can one more time with whatever white wine you have lying around. If you are like me and prefer blush, you can use that too! I’d probably not add red wine though, that sounds gross, but if you do, let me know how that goes for you! Stir the soup mixture up, cover the crock and set it to cook on HIGH for 2 1/2 hours.

Serve over white rice, rice a roni or some tasty mashed potatoes. You can thicken up the sauce with a little bit of flour too at the end if you like: just remove the chicken, add a tablespoon of flour and whisk it for a minute or two, then let it continue to cook for a few more minutes until it is thick. Add more flour and repeat if you want it thicker. I like the gravy watery so I don’t generally bother with this step, but it’s there if you like!

Serve to people you want to impress and pretend you took hours to do it!

*Mix it up option! Sometimes I make the chicken with prosciutto instead of regular ham and I sometimes switch out the cheese too. Asiago, provolone and even mozzarella are all delicious, though of course then they aren’t quite french anymore, but who cares?!