Bread machine Focaccia

I love this bread machine focaccia recipe. It's so fast and easy to make and tastes delicious. The techniques I've added below help give it its crispy bite. If you have sourdough starter, that'd be a great addition for flavour and texture.

We top it with what we like, half and half for picky eaters, and it's great just as it is, or sliced open for a sandwich. Bet you can't keep this around long!

Ingredients

225ml (8 fl oz) lukewarm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, stem removed and chopped (2 tsp dry rosemary)
400g (14 oz) bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons dried active baking yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt 

Method

Prep: 10 min › Cook: 25 min › Ready in: 35 min

Place water, 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, rosemary, flour, yeast and salt in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. I like to make a slight hole in the centre of my flour to add the yeast to, and sprinkle the salt around the perimeter of the pan. Select the DOUGH cycle; press START.

Remove the dough from the bread machine when the cycle is complete. On a slightly floured surface, gently pat dough into a rectangle approximately 23x33cm (9x13 in) by using your finger tips to make dimples and push to the outside. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest while oven preheats.

Place a pizza stone in oven on a rack and turn it on, preheating to 390F/ 200C / Gas mark 6. Halfway through preheating, fold the dough in half lengthwise and poke it into its general rectangular shape again.

Fill the bottom of a 23x33cm (9x13 in) metal pan with 1/8" of olive oil. When oven in preheated, place the dough into the pan and form to the outer edges using the poke and push technique. Oil will slosh up onto its top, that's quite alright. 

At this stage you can get creative. While you poke and push with your fingertips, you can embed into the dough some sliced olives, grilled peppers, grilled or sundried tomatoes, or whatever you'd like. Top with rosemary or other herbs and Parmesan cheese.

Spritz the side and back walls of the oven with water, close the oven door and wait a few seconds, then place the pan on the pizza stone in preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. 

Remove immediately from pan so it does not sit and soak up oil. Place on rack to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Syrian Pita

Today I dumped everything into the bread machine to make my new favourite Multigrain bread (listed in a previous post) and left for a nice, long motorcycle ride. Came home and had some wonderful, fresh bread waiting for us.

After another ride in the late afternoon, I remembered I had to make pita for the the BBQ later. So I rushed home, threw the ingredients into the bread machine and put my feet up while it did all the mixing and kneading for me.


Ingredients

1 1/8 cups water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Add to bread machine in your manufacturer's recommended order. Select Dough cycle, press Start.


After it finished rising, I cut the wonderfully tender dough ball into 9 equal pieces.

While the sausages were cooking on the BBQ, I warmed up a skillet and started rolling out the balls. I like to keep the balls covered with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out while I fry each pita.


I roll out the first one as thin as I can, throw it into the skillet and by the time I finish rolling out the next pita, the one in the skillet is done.

 I don't use flour on the counter when rolling. All that does is make your pita slip around with the end result being you'll have a very difficult time getting it as thin as needed.


I'm not that great at making it perfectly round, but it's close enough.

In the skillet, I start off with just a little olive oil to season the pan, then after that I add nothing. Just the teflon pan is good enough.



Here, on the right, you see it starting to bubble up. I love it when it does that.

I've heard that the thinner you roll it, the better your chances are of that happening!

Here it's been flipped and I'm cooking the other side. It really only takes 2-3 minutes on each side.

A little bit of blackness adds to its character.

The batch is nicely cooling on a cooling rack.



And there's a nice BBQ'ed sausage in a pita fresh off the skillet!