Inspired by Farmgirl Fare's recent focaccia blog, I decided to take on the challenge and make Stephens Quick Rosemary Focaccia yesterday. Since I needed 4 Tablespoons of rosemary, I went to my small rosemary bush in the backyard but managed to only get about 3 Tablespoons, else I risked raping it of every last leaf. No worries, the rosemary is optional so I'll just lessen it a little bit.
The instructions were easy to follow but I did learn a few key things. I learned I should have 1/2'd the recipe as 3 people really don't need 2 whole focaccias. I also learned that my old garage-sale-find food processor could probably use some updating as it is small and had a hard time mixing all of the ingredients - but it did it's job in the end and I'm thankful. I also learned that you can't use a metal cookie sheet as a peel as the dough sticks to it, even with cornmeal. Or perhaps that lesson should have been to use more cornmeal? I'm not sure, I'll have to experiment more. I had read that if you are baking bread on a cold day you can let the dough rise in your oven with the light on and I did - it worked perfectly in my electric oven. While the oven and the baking stone were coming to temperature I needed warmth for the dough to rise a 2nd time. I put it on a cookie sheet in the microwave on top of a bowl of hot water. That did the trick for that quick 20 minutes 2nd rise.
Since my oven and baking stone are small, I had to cook each focaccia separately. Focaccia #1 : I forgot to eggwash and salt at the end. It had a great rosemary taste because rosemary was both inside the dough and on top during the final cooking, but it lacked shine and the crust was really hard in areas that were too thin. It almost seemed overcooked though I had it in the oven for the exact time called for. Focaccia #2 : I omitted the rosemary on top (remember I was short 1 Tbsp) but eggwashed and salted during the last two minutes and didn't keep it in as long. The crust is still solid but pliable, even today - not over-crunchy-hard like #1 was within an hour of it coming out of the oven. I think another error I made was making the rounds more like 10 inches instead of closer to the 8-9. I'm used to thin focaccias and thought this should be that way also. Next time, forget what I know ahead of time and just follow the recipe.
Today I'm enjoying focaccia #2 with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. No, I don't have any pictures because we had company, and how silly would I look taking a picture of focaccia before we devoured it? I just hope my rosemary grows back quickly so I can try this recipe again soon!
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