A cracker it’s not, savory bread, it is…

I tried to make more sourdough rosemary lavish crackers yesterday, but the dough wouldn’t let me. It wanted to be bread. So I made Sourdough Rosemary Focaccia instead.

 

I was feeding my sourdough starters and decided to make crackers with the discarded sourdough. I had invited a friend over who likes sourdough bread so I thought I would introduce him to the Sourdough Rosemary Lavish Crackers topped with roasted tomatoes. I had just slow-roasted some more tomatoes from my garden so I needed to use them up.

I had a little more discarded starter than I had used in the original cracker recipe so I tweaked the recipe a bit to include more starter and flour, etc., but when I mixed all of the ingredients and felt the dough, it wasn’t cracker dough. No, this was different. It was so smooth and buttery (I mean olive oily) and workable. I just knew it wasn’t meant for crackers. This was bread dough. Flatbread dough to be sure.

The good thing about this dough is it is versatile. If you want to make focaccia, use the version below.  If you prefer to make crackers, use the cracker version.  

 

Savory Sourdough Rosemary Focaccia

Makes: 2 small or 1 large Focaccias

Adapted from: Sourdough Rosemary Lavish Crackers

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups unfed or recently fed sourdough starter
• 2 cups unbleached bread flour
• 1/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/4 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped, additional for garnish
• 1 tablespoon water, more if needed
• Kosher salt, for sprinkling on the top
• Roasted tomatoes, or your choice of toppings

 

Directions:

1) Preparing the sourdough starter for use in the focaccia:

Remove the starter from the refrigerator, measure the amount needed, and let it warm up to room temperature. If you don’t have enough starter for this recipe, use this method to activate and increase your starter.

 

2) Mixing the Dough:

Stir the sourdough starter and oil together in a large mixing bowl using a wooden spoon or Danish dough whisk.

Add in the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt and rosemary) and mix until thoroughly blended.

 

3) Bulk Fermentation:

Let the dough ferment for 2-3 hours at room temperature. Do a fold after the first hour. The dough should double in bulk.

 

4) Preparing the Focaccia:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. with a baking stone on the middle rack.

Spray a piece of parchment paper with olive oil.  Remove the dough from the bowl and shape it into a ball.  Place the ball on the parchment paper.  Let it rest for about 5 minutes.

To make small focaccias, cut the dough in half and cover one half while you’re preparing the other one.

 

 

5) Shaping and Topping the Focaccia:

Using lightly oiled fingers, spread the first ball of dough into an oval shape on the parchment paper.

Drizzle more olive oil over the top and press lightly with your fingertips to make indentions in the dough. 

Sprinkle kosher salt over the top and place the roasted tomatoes evenly around the edges and middle of the focaccia.  Press them gently into the dough. Drizzle with more olive oil, if desired and garnish with fresh rosemary.

 

6) Baking the Focaccia:

Slide the focaccia onto the preheated baking stone using a pizza peel or the back of a baking sheet.  Bake until it is golden brown about 20 – 25 minutes.  Remove the parchment paper partway through baking to make sure the bottom get’s baked through and evenly browned.

 

7) Cooling and Serving

Remove the focaccia and let it cool slightly before serving.  You can slice it or break off pieces to serve.

The roasted tomatoes puffed up during baking. It was pretty cool.

 

Someone told me recently that bread just wants to be, well bread. I agree. There’s no doubt that this dough wanted to be bread. It looked like it, smelled like it, felt like it, and ultimately, it was, bread. So I let it be bread.

And, since this savory Sourdough Rosemary Focaccia is not a cracker, I’m submitting it to the Twelve Loaves challenge for August. 

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Fougasse and Dinner for 8

Fougasse with Olives is another one of the Mellow Bakers’ November breads.  It is a dense, crusty French loaf with an unusual shape and a pronounced flavor. I made the leaf version for my Dinner for 8 group this past weekend. We get together every month for dinner at someone’s house or a restaurant. This month, Sue hosted the dinner. She has a gorgeous house full of antiques.We thoroughly enjoyed going from room to room viewing all of her lovely collectibles and playing a fun game after dinner. 

Originally, I was going to make rolls for the dinner, but I woke up early on Saturday and realized I had time to make the Fougasse. I thought it would make a lovely and festive addition to the table. It did!  Everyone thought the shape was really unique and they kept asking me what it was called. 

Everyone say it with me “fougasse!” 

I like the shape and cuts of the Fougasse in the photo above, but I rolled the dough out too thin so it got a wee bit too crispy in places. I didn’t share this loaf with the dinner group. I’ve been enjoying it with a salad for lunch the past few days.

The loaf in the photo above is the one that came with me to the party. It looks a little pale in this photo, but it looked lovely on Sue’s counter before we ate it.

 

Recipe for Fougasse (without Olives)

Makes: Two loaves

Adapted from Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman

I omitted the olives and included some Herbes de Provence instead. I used a mixture of all-purpose and bread flour and a little bit of Kamut. It turned out to be a very light-colored bread. Next time, I’ll try it with bread flour and whole wheat flour to see the difference.

Ingredients:

Pâte Fermentée:

• 2.15 oz (1/2 cup) bread flour
• 2.15 oz (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
• 2.8 oz (3/8 cup) water
• .09 oz (1/2 tsp) salt
• .002 oz, instant dry yeast (a small pinch)

Final Dough:

• 5.65 oz (2 1/8 cups) bread flour
• 5.65 oz (2 1/8 cups) all-purpose flour
• 1.7 oz (3/8 cup) Kamut (or whole wheat) flour
• 9 oz (1 1/8 cups) water
• .4 oz (2 tsp) salt (I didn’t add olives, so I increased the salt by 1 tsp)
• .05 oz (1/2 tsp) instant dry yeast
• 3 tsp Herbes de Provence
• .9 oz (2 T) extra-virgin olive oil
• Pâte Fermentée all of the above (7.2 oz)

 

Directions:

Making the Pâte Fermentée

Disperse the yeast in the water, add the flours and salt and stir until everything comes together and makes a coarse ball. Adjust the flour or water as necessary to ensure the dough is neither too sticky nor too stiff. 

Transfer the dough to a counter sprinkled with flour.Knead the dough until it is soft and pliable, tacky but not sticky. About 4 to 6 minutes by hand or 4 minutes using the stand mixer.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and roll it around to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it ferment at room temperature for two hours. You can use the preferment at this time or place it in the refrigerator for up to three days.

 

Mixing the Dough

Cut the Pâte Fermentée into about 10 small pieces with a pastry scraper.

Add all of the ingredients, except for the Pâte Fermentée and the olive oil, in the mixing bowl of your stand mixer.  Using a spiral mixer, mix on first speed for 3 minutes in order to incorporate the ingredients.  Add the Pâte Fermentée in chunks.

Adjust the hydration of the dough as necessary by adding additional flour or water. The dough should be medium consistency at this point. Drizzle in the olive oil.  Mix on second speed for an additional 5 to 6 minutes until the dough has moderate gluten development. The desired dough temperature is 76 degrees F.

 

Bulk Fermentation

Let the dough ferment for 2 hours and fold the dough after 1 hour of bulk fermentation.

• To learn how to fold the dough, refer to the French Bread bloopers post.
• Or, use the Tartine Method of turning the dough in the bowl. I used the Tartine method for this dough.

 

Dividing and Shaping the Loaves

Divide the dough into 1-pound pieces.  My pieces were slightly less than 1 pound since I didn’t include the 1/4 cup of olives.

 

Round the loaves lightly and place on a floured bench with the seams down.  Cover with plastic and let them rest for about 20 minutes. 

 

Final Fermentation

When the balls have relaxed sufficiently, use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into an oval shape.

 

Cover the ovals with plastic and let them proof for about an hour at 76 degrees F.

 

After the dough has risen, begin the final shaping. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with a baking stone on the middle shelf and a steam pan underneath.

Shaping the Fougasse Leaves

Pick up the dough and stretch it gently so that it is about half again as long as it was.   Now, shape it into a long triangle with a base about half the length of the height. Using a pizza wheel or a paring knife, cut several diagonal slices into the dough. Stretch the dough some more, so the cuts are open. I tried doing this on the counter, but it lost its shape when I moved it so I put the ovals on parchment paper, then made the slices and it worked much better.

 

 

Baking the Loaves

Place the loaves (on the parchment paper) on the hot baking stone using a baker’s peel or the back of a baking sheet. Fill the steam pan with hot water and close the door of the oven.  Spray the walls of the oven with a spray bottle filled with water about 3 times during the first few minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees F.  Let the loaves bake for about 20 minutes until the loaves richly colored and crusty, but still have some give when squeezed.  I didn’t bake my loaves quite that long because they were starting to burn in places.  I took them out while they still had some “give” so they ended up being lighter in color.

 

By the time I transported the loaf to the dinner party, it had cooled off so it was a little chewy, not crispy, but the flavor was really good and I thought it went really well with the rest of the meal. 

 

You might also enjoy rustic ladder-shaped fougasse.

 

Mellow Bakers was started by Paul at Yumarama. We’re baking breads from Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Fougasse: Provencal Bread with Herbs

The Bread Baking Babes are at it again.  Elizabeth of Our Kitchen is the host for October and she chose Fougasse as the bread of the month.  I’ve never made Fougasse so I was delighted to be baking this bread along with the Bread Baking Babes and Friends. I’m also excited that I was able to make this bread completely by hand. I’m on the road to pain free and it’s a wonderful thing. Read on to find out why.

Fougasse is a traditional southern French flatbread that can be flavored with herbs, olives, and lardons (fried bacon or pork belly). Since I’m not big on olives or pork belly, and I wanted to give my physical therapist a loaf, I opted to make my version with Herbes de Provence. As it turns out, my physical therapist doesn’t like olives either so I’m glad I went with the herbs. I incorporated the herbs in the dough and left the outside plain so I could serve it toasted and spread with Roasted Red Pepper Spread and shaved parmesan cheese.

 

We had the option of using whatever dough we wanted so I chose Baguette dough from Chad Robertson’s Tartine Bread. I loved working with this dough. It’s buttery smooth. I made the rustic ladder shape (demonstrated in Tartine Bread) rather than the festive ear-of-wheat-shaped loaf. I’ll have to try the other shape next time because it makes for a beautiful display.

I wanted to give a loaf to my physical therapist because she’s been helping me get the strength back in my left arm. I got tennis elbow from gardening (and other activities) this past Spring, and I’ve been in pain for months. I started physical therapy a few weeks ago and I’m almost pain free.  Not quite, but I’m getting there.  I can lift some things now without wincing with pain or dropping them on the floor.  Soon, I’ll be able to knead dough by hand instead of using the stand mixer.  I can’t wait!  Don’t get me wrong, the stand mixer is a great tool, but there’s just something so therapeutic about working and kneading the dough with your hands.

 

This dough doesn’t require any kneading so I was able to use my hands, literally, to incorporate the dough and then fold and turn it in the bowl during the 3-4 hour fermentation period. This dough is easy enough to turn in the bowl using just one hand.

 

Fougasse made with Baguette Dough

Makes: 3 Loaves

Adapted from: Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson

Ingredients:

Poolish

• 200 grams all-purpose flour
• 200 grams water
• 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

Leaven

• 1 tablespoon mature starter
• 220 grams all-purpose flour
• 220 grams water

Baguette Dough:

• 400 grams Leaven
• 500 grams water
• 400 grams poolish
• 650 grams all-purpose flour
• 350 grams bread flour
• 24 grams salt
• rice flour for dusting

 

Method:

Make the poolish: In a bowl, mix the flour, water, and yeast. Let stand for 3 to 4 hours at a warm room temperature (75 to 80 degrees F.) or overnight in the refrigerator. I opted to retard the poolish in the refrigerator overnight so it would be ready at the same time as the leaven.

Make the leaven: Place the mature starter in a bowl and feed it with the flour and water.  Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let the starter rise overnight at a cool room temperature (65 degrees F.)

The poolish and the leaven will be ready to use once they pass the float test.  The next morning, I tested the leaven first and it passed the float test right away.

 

The poolish had to warm up to room temperature and then it passed the float test.

 

You only need 400 grams of the leaven for this bread so you can refresh the remainder and maintain it as your starter.

 

Make the Baguette Dough:

Pour warm water into a large bowl.  Add the poolish and the leaven and stir to disperse. 

 

Add the all-purpose and bread flour. Use your hands to mix the dough until all of the dry bits of flour have been incorporated.  I started out using a Danish Dough Whisk, but found out pretty quickly that I was going to have to finish it with my hands.

 

So I wet my hand and worked the dough until no dry bits of flour remained. Let the dough rest for 25 to 40 minutes.

 

Transfer the dough to a plastic container or a larger bowl and begin the bulk fermentation.  The temperature should be about 75 degrees F. Turn the dough about every 40 minutes using this method. Add the salt and the herbs with the first turn. I added the salt first and thoroughly incorporated it into the dough.

 

Then I added about 3 teaspoons of Herbes de Provence and mixed it in with my hands. 

 

Let the dough bulk ferment for 3 to 4 hours.

 

When the bulk fermentation is complete, transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. 

 

Divide the dough into pieces using this method. I divided it into three equal pieces. Shape each piece into a rectangle with rounded corners.  Let rest on the work surface for 30 minutes.

Working with one dough rectangle at a time, fold the third of the dough closest to you up and over the middle third.  Holding the ends of the dough, stretch it slightly.  Fold the right third of the dough over the middle of the dough, and then fold the left third over the middle and the previous fold. Next, fold the third of the dough farthest from you over the middle as if closing the flap of an envelope.  Press on this flap to develop tension in the dough.  Using your palms and fingers together, roll the dough toward you; with each successive roll, press with the outer edge of your palms and fingers to further develop tension in the dough.  You should end up with a slightly rectangular cylinder with the seam facing down.  Using a bench knife, flip the loaf onto a flour-dusted kitchen towel so that the seam is facing up. 

 

Press out the dough until it is about 1 1/2 inches thick.  Let rise for 2 to 3 hours.

 

Place a baking stone on the middle rack of the oven and a steam pan underneath and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Transfer the fougasse loaves to a flour-dusted pizza peel. I used parchment paper. 

 

Using a bench knife, make a pattern of cuts in the dough, pushing the knife until it touches the peel and being careful not to cut through the edge of the dough. 

 

Stretch the cut areas to create openings.

 

Slide the loaves onto the heated baking stone.  I baked the loaves one at a time.  Pour hot water into the steam pan and quickly close the oven door. Immediately reduce the oven temperature to 475 degrees F.  Bake the loaves for about 25 to 30 minutes until they are deep golden brown color. 

This bread has been YeastSpotted. Please visit Wild Yeast to view all of the lovely breads in the roundup.  Please also visit this week’s host Bewitching Kitchen.

 

Serve warm from the oven or let the loaves cool on a wire rack.  I did both.

 

I tried a slice of this bread right away and it was good, but it tasted much better the next day.  I brought a loaf to my sister’s house and we enjoyed it with the roasted red pepper spread.  I forgot to take a photo of the bread with the red pepper spread, but my sister thought it was delicious.  I thought so too.

I really enjoyed making and eating this bread.  Thanks to Elizabeth of Our Kitchen for hosting the BBB this month.

 

 

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy