"Shit" She looked down at the list in front of her, already 9:00 in the evening and she had a litany of things to finish before she would be ready for the wedding tomorrow. How did the time get away from her? It was clear she would be lucky to be done before 2:00 am, really lucky. She rubbed her eyes and ignored her exhaustion. "Okay, okay, okay" she muttered to herself as she looked over her list. She had promised this spread of focaccio, which had to be made from scratch. This would not be difficult if it weren't so late in the evening. She tried to calculate her rising time to see if she would get any sleep at all tonight. "Shit" she thought again, her head was swimming, she needed to just dig in and not think about it.
What was harder to ignore was why she was running so late. It wasn't that she was just physically tired, she was emotionally drained. The business was taking up more of her time than she had ever imagined and that was not sitting well with her partner. There were the endless discussions about money. But when it came to talking money, there was no discussion, only his superiority and her lack of finance. A business could be outwardly successful and internally struggling. The first few years had been an endless balancing act to just stay afloat. It was very hard to turn a profit, and for every step forward there seemed to be two steps back. Every extra dime went into building the business, a 24/7 juggling act of vendors, clients, and cooking. She could not seem to make him understand this. Last week she had bounced some checks because a payment hadn't come through when expected. That had ended with him shaking the statement of the returned check fees in her face, his face growing redder and redder at what he saw as her flaws. She was growing tired of it all. She turned her attention to her dough. The sponge had risen enough that she could add more flour and knead the dough. There was something so gratifying about kneading dough, the rhythmic pushing and turning, a thousand sorrows could be pressed into the dough and it thanked you for it.
She finished the kneading and put aside the dough, placing it in a warm spot of the kitchen. The dough would fill with tiny air bubbles until it had grown to twice it's original size. There was the satisfying swoosh when it was punched down only to be set aside to rise again. Depending on her time she would sometimes allow two full rises before shaping the dough and letting it rise for a third time before baking. It was always a question of timing, let the dough rise too much and it would end up depleted of the necessary gases and the final texture would be off. By the same token if not allowed sufficient rising time it would not build up enough gases and would be heavy and too dense. As she prepped the toppings for her focaccia she reflected that bread dough had a lot in common with both business and relationships, and figuring out how to push and turn the business, knowing when to let it breathe seemed a whole lot easier.
BASIC FOCACCIO
SPONGE
1 tsp. active dry yeast
1/2 c warm water
3/4 c unbleached white flour
DOUGH
1 tsp. active dry yeast
1 c warm water
3 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
Sponge, above
3 1/4 c unbleached flour
2 tsp. sea salt
TOPPING
2 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
1 1 1/4 tsp coarse sea salt
SPONGE: Sprinkle yeast over the
warm water in a large mixing bowl, whisk it in and let stand till creamy (about
10 minutes) Stir in the flour
. Cover with plastic wrap and let
rise until very bubbly and double (45 minutes)
DOUGH: Sprinkle yeast over warm
water, whisk in and let stand till creamy (about 10 minutes) With a wooden spoon stir the yeast
mixture and olive oil into sponge.
Mix well. Stir in 1 c of
flour ; stir in salt and remaining flour, 2 cups at a time. Mix until the dough is well
blended. Knead on a lightly
floured surface until soft and velvety (about 8 - 10 minutes)
FIRST RISE: Place the dough in a well oiled
container. Cover tightly with
plastic and let rise till double, 1 1/4 hours.
SHAPING AND SECOND RISE: The dough will be soft and
delicate and full of air bubbles.
Divide the dough into desired sizes and flatten on an oiled work
area. With well oiled hands press
the dough into circular shapes.
Cover with a towel and let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Just before baking dimple the dough
vigorously with your knuckles or fingertips, leaving visible indentations. Drizzle olive oil over the dough
leaving oil pools in the holes you have made. Sprinkle with coarse salt.
BAKING: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
. Bake until the crust is crisp
and the top is golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Before baking top the focaccio dough with any of the following:
ROSEMARY, OIL, SALT
extra virgin olive oil -drizzle over the dough
course sea salt - lightly grate or sprinkle sea salt over the surface
sprigs of fresh rosemary - scatter sprigs over oiled and salted dough
GARLIC AND TOMATOES
extra virgin olive oil - drizzle over dough
2 cloves minced garlic - mix with chopped tomatoes
1 lb fresh tomatoes - chopped. spread over dough
course sea salt - lightly grate or sprinkle sea salt over the surface
SWEET RED PEPPERS AND BASIL
extra virgin olive oil - drizzle over dough
1 -2 sweet red peppers - roasted, peeled and seeded, and cut into strips then laid on top of dough
fresh basil - chopped and sprinkled over dough
course sea salt - lightly grate or sprinkle sea salt over the surface
These doughs can also be used as a base for pizza. Prepare any of the focaccia above and build it up as desired, adding olives, cheese, sundried tomatoes, fresh zucchini, oregano. Have fun with it and play around with the flavors.
