for my mother

one of my family's favorite restaurants is macaroni grill and mostly because of the focaccia bread they give you at the beginning of every meal- the insalata caprese being my reason for going. my siblings and i would gorge ourselves on this bread and my mom would always ask for a second, and more often than not, a third loaf. my mom loves this bread, so, for my mom, i learned how to make it.

there is nothing as pleasant as the smell of fresh bread. throw in the smell of rosemary and olive oil and mmm...it just smells heavenly.

i love the crisp outside and the tender soft inside. oh it's just so delicious. i like to eat this bread the italian way, dipped into olive oil and ground black pepper, but my hubby loves to eat this dipped into spaghetti sauce. we call it "spaghetti dip." i can't make enough of this bread to keep my family satiated. they always ask for more. guess that means it's good?

focaccia bread

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of hot tap water- not boiling

2 1/2 tsp of yeast

1 tsp of granulated sugar

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

olive oil

on the stove, bring a large pot of water to boil and then lower to simmer. yeast loves humidity, so adding moisture to the air will help the yeast to bloom and the bread to rise.

in a 2 cup measuring cup, dissolve the sugar into the water. add the yeast and gently stir. put the cup close to the simmering pot and let the yeast bloom, about double to level of the water.

in a food processor or stand mixer with the dough hook, combine the flour, baking powder, rosemary, and salt. once the yeast has bloomed, turn the mixer on low and slowly pour the yeast into the flour. stir until the water is fully incorporated. dump out dough and knead by hand until the dough is soft and elastic- when you push on finger into it, the dough bounces back slowly. i like doing this by hand because it's very easy to over- knead the dough and then the dough becomes too hard. when you knead by hand, you can feel the dough becoming softer.

pour some olive oil into the bottom of a medium sized bowl. coat the dough in oil and leave it in the bowl, covered, next to the simmering pot. leave the dough alone and until it has doubled in size.

see the bubbles? oh, i'm so excited to eat this

 preheat oven to 425⁰F. if you're using a convection oven, lower to 400.

oil a pie pan and press dough into the pan. cover and leave again to rise, until size has doubled. before baking, sprinkle top with ground black pepper and more dried rosemary.

the fingerprints make it "rustic"

bake for 20- 30 minutes, until bread is a golden brown. serve warm

until next post- maggie