tomato potato focaccia
I bake bread almost every night.
Last night I made, deep breath, seven loaves of mixed grain, five cinnamon raisin swirl, eight white, ten whole wheat, six cranberry pecan, five jalapeno cheddar and four garlic herb parmesan, two olive-rosemary, three parisian batards and two boules, six walnut wheat, twelve sourdough, 24 bagels, 36 baguettes, one giant sheet of focaccia, two ciabatta, 60 ciabattini, 24 kaiser, seven pitas, and 18 delicious cheesy flatbreads.
Sigh.
Hungarian Dances: no. 5 in G Minor is playing in the background right now and it pretty much sums up the night I had.
Because of my job, the yeast bread category on here will probably be pretty sparse. For me to make bread at home, it’s gotta be either stupidly easy, spectacularly delicious or earth-shatteringly beautiful. Or a miraculous combination of all three.
This tomato potato focaccia is pretty miraculous.
It’s a moist, flavorful bread with bursts of tomato, salt and oregano. While it’s in the oven, might I suggest smashing a clove of garlic in a mortar along with a few red chili flakes, a pinch of salt, and a grind of pepper? Add a few glugs of olive oil and some finely grated parmesan or romano, then tear off a chunk of freshly baked bread and dip.
Eat.
Plotz.
Repeat.
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Tomato Potato Focaccia (from the wednesday chef)
makes one 8″ focaccia
1 medium potato, preferably yukon gold
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more if needed
1 teaspoon fresh cake yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2/3 cup water, room temperature
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1 to 2 teaspoons dried oregano
coarse sea salt
Place the potato and a generous pinch of salt in a saucepan and cover with water by about an inch. Cover, turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Simmer until tender when pierced, about 20 minutes. Drain and let cool. Peel and mash with a fork; set aside to cool.
Put the yeast into a bowl along with the water; stir to dissolve yeast. Add the flour, potato and salt, using a fork to incorporate the potato into the flour. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and start to knead the dough by hand; knead for a minute or so, until it is fairly smooth, adding more flour if the dough is too sticky to handle. Lightly oil the mixing bowl and place the ball of dough in it to rest and rise, covered, for about an hour.
Cut parchment to fit the bottom of an 8″ cake pan. Gently lift the risen dough from its bowl and place in the cake pan. Pull and pat it gently to fit the pan. Press the tomato halves into the dough. Sprinkle the oregano, a large pinch of coarse salt and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over the tomatoes. Let rise for another hour.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425. Bake focaccia for about 40 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool about 20 minutes before removing from pan, if you can.
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