Fun With Focaccia - Romano Stuffed Focaccia

Have you ever had one of those cravings, but your not really sure what it is that you want?  This happens to me often.  It has also been the case for the last few months.  This craving for an elusive something has been tugging at the edges of my consciousness. Extremely aggravating.

Then it suddenly, though I am still not sure why, it hit me....  I have not made any bread in over a year.  No WONDER I have had this unrequited craving for 4 months.  I know man cannot live by bread alone.... But man simply cannot live without homemade bread.  Need want MUST have bread....

This is a little different from my standard recipe... Normally I let the dough rise twice; once before rolling and a second time after topping.  Since this will be stuffed, I only gave it 1 rise, after I assembled the stuffed loaf.  I also used twice as much yeast, so I could get a slightly higher rise in the oven, since there is a solid weighty layer of cheese in the middle.

Romano and Fennel Focaccia

1 cup + 2 TB (18 TB) (9 oz) (270 ml) Warm Water, divided
1 tsp Granulated Sugar
1/2 oz Yeast (2 pkgs)
3 cups (17 oz) (500 g) Bread Flour (strong flour)
1 tsp Kosher Salt
2 1/2 TB Extra Virgin Olive oil, divided
7 oz (200 g) Pecorino Romano
1 1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds, divided

In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup (8 TB) (4 oz) (120 ml) of the water with the Sugar.

Add the Yeast and stir to combine... Then let it sit for 5-10 minutes.

In the meantime, whisk the Bread Flour and Salt together and grate the cheese, then set aside.

Once the yeast begins to bubble.....  Your ready to go.

Add the yeast mixture to the flour, then add the 1 TB of the olive oil and the remaining water.

Stir with a fork until a sticky doughy mass is formed.

Turn out onto the counter and begin kneading the mass until a smooth elastic ball is formed.

(about 4 minutes)

Divide the dough in half.

Roll out the first dough ball into a 1/4 inch thick round on a lightly floured surface.

Move to your baking sheet (which I forgot to do) and cover with the shredded cheese, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edge, then sprinkle with 1 tsp Fennel Seeds.

Roll out the remaining dough ball and lay it on top of the previous one.

Pinch the edges all the way around, to prevent cheese leakage.

Fold the pinched edge under, creating a smooth seamless looking edge all the way around the loaf.

Cut slits in the top with a very sharp knife to allow steam from the melting cheese to escape.

Brush with the remaining 1 1/2 TB of Olive oil.

Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds and set aside to rise for 30 minute, (at the 15 minute mark, go ahead and preheat the oven to 375 degrees)

Move the loaf to the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. (if the loaf begins to brown too much, cover with a piece of aluminum foil)

Remove from the oven and move to a cooling rack immediately (don't burn yourself) or the loaf will become soggy on the bottom.

Rip into the cheesy deliciousness as soon as the loaf is cool enough.

YUM!!!!  Life is good.

Mangia!!
~~

Shuffalo Burger - Sheep Feta Stuffed Bison

This is really just a re-visitation of the Gorgonzola stuffed burgers I made a couple weeks ago. This time, however, I found some ground bison.

OK, Fun facts about Bison... The way Beef SHOULD taste. Ounce for ounce, Bison is 30% higher in protein than Beef, and contains less cholesterol than Chicken (with the skin removed, even)

3 oz of Bison contains 93 Calories; 1.8g of Fat; 43mg Cholesterol

3 oz of Beef contains 183 Calories; a whopping 8.7g of Fat; 55mg of Cholesterol

Persons who have Beef allergies, do not experience a reaction when eating Bison. All this, AND it was actually cheaper than the 90/10 ground beef! So I happily tossed a Bison into my cart and toddled on down the aisle, only to discover sheep milk feta was on sale. Then the wheels started turning... This however did not slow down my shopping expedition.

Upon grabbing milk I happened to notice something different stashed in among the various little containers of Yogurt...

Yep, a small single serving size Greek yogurt!!! Just enough to make tzatziki for a single meal. Woo Hoo!!

So the wheels in my head finally stopped on Feta burgers with tzatziki. Cause that way I got to play with my little BBQ grill.

Shuffalo Burger

1 lb Ground Bison
1 egg
2 TB Panko
Kosher Salt and Pepper

For Stuffing:
Sheep Feta
Lemon Zest
Oregano
Thyme
Garlic powder

I simply followed the same procedure that I did for the Gorgonzola burgers.

Mix the egg, Salt and Pepper into the ground bison, then add the panko and mix again.
Divide into 4 equal portions, then divide each of those in 1/2

Divide each one of those into two pieces and flatten, placing crumbled feta and top with a little lemon zest.

Sprinkle the herbs, a pinch of Oregano, a pinch of Thyme, a little Garlic Powder in the center of one.

Cover with the other half of the patty and press together.

Repeat... then chill while the grill is heating up...
Take them to the grill and cook em up about 3 minutes on each side.

Place on toasted focaccia rolls with Tzatziki.....


Make up the Tzatziki,

Honestly this time I just eye-balled it this time, because I am use to making a large amount and the 5.3 oz was about 1/3 of a cup of yogurt, so I couldn't really do a simply halving or quartering my original recipe from "Greek week", but this is my guess on the amounts I used. The garlic ended up being a little stronger than my original recipe, but it stood up to the bison a little better.

5.3 oz Greek Yogurt
4 Mint leaves, Chopped
1 tsp Chopped Dill
1/2 tsp Lemon zest
1/4 tsp Lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced fine
3 TB Chopped Cucumber
Kosher salt
White or Green pepper

Chop up the Mint and Dill, then add it to the yogurt along with the Lemon Zest, Lemon Juice and Garlic.

Chop cucumber....

Add to the mix and stir until combined, then season with salt and white or green pepper.

One should always consume 1 large spoonful, just to check the seasoning, before serving... ;)

Mangia!!
~~

Fun With Flat Bread - Focaccia

I love bread, which is why I don't make bread. Yes, I know it's paradoxical, but if I make bread then I have to eat the bread. The problem is, that I love fresh baked bread SO much that I will sit and eat the whole loaf by myself while sitting in the corner, rocking back and forth and giggling to myself like Rumpelstiltzchen on crack. This is not a pretty picture for anyone, and it tends to frighten my neighbors.

But occasionally I need a "fix". When this happens, I warn all the neighbors and make focaccia bread. In particular, I make Kalamata olive and red onion topped focaccia bread. For it is uber delicious. Tonight, however, I decided to alter things a little bit, since the weather finally let up and the heat stopped (Thank God!) I made Chestnut, Sage and Shallot focaccia as well... A little reminiscent of some great fall flavors to go with the returning chill in the air.

Focaccia is really a simple bread to make, there is no yeast proofing in this recipe or anything, just mix up the dry and add the wet, then knead and let it rise... Now I have kneaded some tough dough over the years, this is a very soft dough, and you really don't have to muscle it in any way, I simple use my fingers and lean a little.

Honestly though, aside from being fairly simple to prepare, it is a great canvas for many ingredients. The best part, is that I get to play with some of my finishing type salts... Today I chose coarse Sel Gris and some fine Salish (Alder Smoked) salt.

Focaccia

For the Bread Dough
6 cups of Bread Flour (Gold Medal Harvest King - Bread flour, or equivalent, I think that a couple of flour companies even call it "Artisan" Flour to make it sound more Chi chi Poo poo)
1 tsp Kosher Salt
2 Pkgs Active Dry Yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
2 1/4 cups lukewarm water

Kalamata Olive & Onion

1/4 cup Pitted Kalamata Olives (Cut in Half either lengthwise or across, whichever blows your hair back)

Onion/Thyme Topping:

1 small Red Onions, Sliced in half and then into wedges (like you would an apple)
Olive oil for drizzling (About 2 TB)
1 TB Thyme leaves
1/4 cup Pitted Kalamata Olives

1 tsp Sel Gris salt (or Himalayan Pink or Hawaiian Black Lava Salt or Red Coral Salt or Alder Smoked Salt, etc. -- Really any of the fancy salts available, whichever you like since it is for "Finishing")

Chestnut Sage and Shallot:

To dough

1/2 cup roasted Chestnuts
1 TB fresh Chopped Sage

Sage/Shallot Topping:

1 Shallot, Sliced
(optional) Just a few of the chopped chestnuts

12-16 Sage Leaves

Olive oil for drizzling (About 2 TB)

1 tsp Salish Alder Smoked Salt (or Sel Gris or Red Coral Salt or Murray River Salt, Chardonnay Oak Smoked Salt etc. -- whichever you like since it is for "Finishing"

Line baking sheets with parchment
Whisk flour salt and yeast together in a bowl.

Add olive oil and warm water,

Then mix together to form a soft dough.

Knead for 10 minutes on a lightly floured board.

Place dough in an oiled bowl,

Cover and place in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in size.

Knead dough for a couple minutes to "Punch Down".

Normally, I simply Knead 1 cup of the olives into the dough, and proceed. But since I am making 2 different types, Go ahead and divide into 8 pieces.

Set aside 4 Pieces and chop your olives...

Flatten four of the dough pieces just a little and divide the chopped kalamata olives between them.

Roll the dough up to encase the olives.

Press the dough into a round shape on a parchment lined baking sheet. (Now this is where the Abusive part comes in) Grab your Pasta Fork.

Whack the heck out of the dough round. (Seriously, think of it as that game at Chuck E. Cheese, Whack-a-Mole)

or you can use your fingers, but the pasta fork is more fun... :)

Sprinkle top of rounds with onions and remaining olives.

Drizzle the tops with Olive oil and sprinkle with Sel Gris and thyme.
Cover and let rise again for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden.


For the Chestnut/Sage...

Take the other 4 pieces of dough and flatten them out.
Grab your roasted Chestnuts.

Divide the Chopped sage and chopped chestnuts between them.

Roll up to encase the fillings.

Flatten on parchment lined baking sheet and whack the heck out of them.

Top with sage leaves (a little Sage triquatra action going on), a couple of chestnut hunks, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Salish Salt.

Cover and let rise 30 minutes
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375, until golden.


Mangia!!
~~