Focaccia Bread and Herb Oil

Poolish

Poolish can be used in many bread recipes such as ciabatta, baguettes, focaccia, etc., and this recipe can be made in larger or smaller batches depending on your application. Although poolish can be used as soon as it ferments, overnight retardation in a refrigerator enhances its flavor and promotes gluten development.

(I measure by weight; however, dry measurements can be used.)

Ingredients:
13 oz. unbleached bread flour (2 ½ cups)
.04 oz. instant yeast* (¼ tsp., heaping)
14 oz. water, room temperatur (1 ¾ cups)

I prefer to use a food processor for this recipe; however, mixing by hand or mixing with a dough hook is certainly sufficient.

Add flour and yeast to food processor bowl equipped with a standard blade—not the dough blade. Run processor for a few seconds to thoroughly combine the flour and yeast. With the food processor running, add the room temperature water so that the mixture combines to look like a very thick pancake batter. Let the food processor run for about a minute to ensure a smooth dough. Scrape the dough into a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it ferment at room temperature (or on a warm stovetop) for 3 to 4 hours—or until the sponge becomes bubbly and foamy. Immediately refrigerate it. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

* A Note on Instant Yeast:
Instant yeast doesn’t require hydration as does fresh yeast or active dry yeast. According to Peter Reinhart, bread baker extraordinaire, instant yeast has “25 percent more living yeast cells per teaspoon than in an equal amount of active dry yeast, and there are three times (300 percent) more living cells than in an equal amount of fresh compressed yeast.” I purchase a brick of instant yeast from Copps’ organic foods section about once a year and keep it in an airtight container in the freezer. Certainly, any type of yeast can be substituted; however, the advantage of instant yeast (also labeled “rapid-rise” or “fast-rising”) is its slower awakening, which I find to be better for a slower-developing and richer flavor during the fermentation and proofing processes.


Focaccia

One of our favorite restaurants in Minneapolis is the Palomino, and for many years, we have enjoyed their focaccia with herb butter or tomato basil salsa. After eating at the Palomino recently, I decided to try making my own focaccia. The recipe below is my variation of Reinhart’s focaccia recipe.

Ingredients:
6 oz. all-purpose flour (1 1/3 C)
6 oz. bread flour (1 1/3 C)
.5 oz. salt (2 t)
.17 oz. instant yeast (1 ½ t)
20 oz. poolish (3 C)
1.5 oz. olive oil (3 T)
6 oz. water, lukewarm (90° to 100°F) (¾ C)

½ C herb oil (can be made during the fermentation process)

I prefer to use a food processor for this recipe; however, mixing by hand or mixing with a dough hook is certainly sufficient.

1. To remove its chill and bring it closer to room temperature, remove the poolish from the refrigerator at least an hour before beginning to make the dough. The poolish should begin to look bubbly on the surface. I have sometimes waited upwards of 2 hours to begin working with poolish after it has been removed from the refrigerator.

2. In the food processor bowl equipped with a dough blade, combine the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, bread flour, salt, and instant yeast. Run processor for a few seconds to thoroughly combine the dry ingredients.

3. Combine the olive oil and water in a liquid measuring cup with a pouring spout.

4. Add the poolish to the food processor bowl. Running the processor on dough speed, add the liquids to the dough mixture at a steady pace, pouring so that the liquids do not collect on the bottom of the food-processing bowl. Let the food processor run for 1 to 2 minutes to ensure a thorough dough mixture. Although the dough will be sticky and continuously stick to the bottom of the bowl, it will begin to clear the sides of the bowl. I make my focaccia as a fairly wet dough. It need only hold together enough to be able to stretch and fold during the fermentation process where additional flour and oil will be added and the gluten will have a chance to strengthen and develop, changing the texture of the dough.

5. Sprinkle a coating of flour on the counter, and scrape the dough onto the counter’s flour bed. At this point, the dough will be extremely wet and sticky, and it will not seem to hold an independent shape. Dust the top of the dough with flour and pat to shape into a rectangle. Let the dough rest for about 5 minutes.

6. With flour-coated hands, lift the dough from its ends, stretching the dough, and fold the right side toward the middle. Then fold the left side toward the middle, covering the first fold. Think about the process of folding a letter: bottom to middle, then top to middle. Lightly spray with olive oil, and lightly dust with flour. Again, pat and shape into a rectangle, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

7. Repeat Step 6, patting again into a rectangular shape. This time, allow the dough to ferment for 1 hour. The dough will swell, but not necessarily double in size.

8. While the dough is fermenting, you may want to prepare the herb oil if you haven’t done so already.

9. After the dough has fermented for an hour, line a 17 by 12-inch sheet pan with baking parchment. Drizzle ¼ cup olive oil over the parchment and spread to cover the surface.

10. Carefully lift the dough from the counter to the prepared sheet pan maintaining its rectangular shape. Spoon or pour 2/3 to 3/4 cup herb oil over the dough.

11. Using your fingertips, simultaneously dimple and spread the dough to fill the sheet pan, maintaining a uniform thickness. Do not use the palms of your hands. Be careful not to tear or rip the dough. The dough may not fill the entire pan at this point—especially the corners; however, as the dough relaxes and proofs, it will naturally fill the pan. Add more herb oil as necessary to ensure complete coverage of the dough.

12. Loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature to proof for 2 hours or until the dough fills the pan. About an hour into this proofing step, I like to begin warming the oven (at a low temperature, 250°F) and place the sheet pan on the stove to encourage an even rise.

13. After the 2-hour fermentation, drizzle more herb oil over the proofed focaccia dough. I typically add about 1/4 cup. Although this seems like a lot of oil, it will be absorbed during the baking process. Again, dimple the dough with your fingertips, moving the dough toward the corners of the sheet pan. The dough will be extremely pliant and fragile at this step, so take care not to tear it. Dimpling the dough degasses only a portion of the dough, therefore allowing the gasses in other parts to develop more completely and create the internal holes associated with focaccia. Let the dough relax for about 30 minutes to allow the gasses to build up again. The dough should rise to about a 1-inch thickness.

14. Preheat the oven to 500°F with the rack on the middle shelf. I also preheat my baking stone on the middle rack at this time. Baking the on a stone allows for a more even baking temperature on the bottom of the baking sheet to more quickly heat the bottom layer of olive oil, creating a crisper bottom crust.

15. Place the baking sheet on the middle rack and lower the oven temperature to 450°F. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn the baking sheet 180°, and continue baking for 5 to 10 minutes. The focaccia should be light golden brown on the top and have an internal temperature of 200°F.

16. Immediately after removing the pan from the oven, transfer the focaccia to a cooling rack also removing the parchment from the bottom of the bread. Allow the focaccia to cool for 20 minutes before slicing or serving.

17. Serve with herb oil.


Herb Oil

Herb oil added to focaccia enhances the flavor. This recipe makes enough herb oil for a full focaccia recipe as well as dipping and cooking. Instead of heating the oil, simply warm it and let the herbs steep in the warm oil, infusing it with their flavors. The olive oil you use does not have to be extra virgin because it will be cooked later, and the subtle flavor of extra virgin will be lost. Any leftover herb oil can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Warm 2 cups olive oil to about 100°F. Add 1 cup chopped fresh herbs. The herbs may include basil, parsley, oregano, tarragon, rosemary, thyme, cilantro, savory, and sage, in any combination. You may also substitute 1/3 cup dried herbs or a blend such as herbes de Provence, or use a combination of fresh and dried herbs. Because of availability, I use the dried herbs listed below:

Herbes de Provence:
1 T rosemary
1 T fennel (seeds or cracked)
1 T thyme
3 T basil
2 t tarragon
1 T marjoram
1 t lavender (if available)
1 T savory (if available)

Add:
1 T coarse or kosher salt
1 t coarsely ground black pepper
5 - 6 cloves fresh garlic, chopped or pressed (or 1 T granulated garlic)
1 t ground cayenne pepper
1 T fennel seeds