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Friday, May 10, 2013

Italian Focaccia with Onion and Rosemary 意大利佛卡夏


Please bear with me because I will have few posts talking about my recent Italy trip and also Italy foods, hehehe..Since my trip is free and easy, so I need to make a lot of homework before I go, which hotel to book, what to buy, what to eat, which place to visit & etc. While I searching for the foods, I found this video of making Italian Focaccia (Gary Rodhes across Italy). Soon I returned from the trip, immediately I tried out this recipe, I would say this is the best Focaccia I have ever had, crispy and light crust and soft crumb, simply delicious! In fact, I am planning to use this dough recipe to make pizza!



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Two special ingredients in this Focaccia, mashed potato to make soft crumb, and Maltose powder to make crispy crust. Since I could not find Maltose powder (first time know this), so I replaced with the usual Maltose syrup (麦芽糖) that available in the market..
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Also another interesting step in this recipe, mix olive oil with water..
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and then flood the whole Focaccia !! According to the chef, this step is to make crispy crust and soft in those little wells that made using fingertips..
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You can enjoy dipping it with olive oil and Balsamic vinegar. I think dip it with curry, also good!


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I learnt that best Italian Balsamic vinegar is made in Modena Italy.
I was not sure which brand to buy, I simply bought this bottle because I saw Modena on the label and the brand is a bit old 1889, hahaha..

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Lets check out the recipe I have modified as per below.
But I will advise you to watch the video first, clear instruction and explanation.
Maybe due to I have modified the original recipe (replaced Maltose powder with Maltose syrup, and fresh yeast with instant yeast), resulted the dough is a bit wet and tacky..you might want to reduce water a bit, and change to bigger tray size if you have because I found my bread was a bit thick, if I have made it thinner, it will be better..
updated on 22 May 2013- I made again and I have made some changes, you can refer to those highlighted in red. This time the dough is easy to handle, less oily and even better !
Italian Focaccia with Onion and Rosemary 意大利佛卡夏
(recipe source: modified from here, video here )
*for a non-stick square pan 9”x9”, for better result use 10”x10”


For the dough
1tsp instant yeast 
Focaccia 041 copy 1tbsp maltose syrup 麦芽糖
50g milk 
150g lukewarm water (120g) 
325g High protein flour or bread flour (360g)
1/2tsp salt 


100g (60g) mashed potatoes (boil potatoes in water till fork tendered, mashed with fork then sift) 
50g olive oil  (10g)


To finish


50g olive oil, shaken together with 50g water 
Sea salt
1 onion, sliced and soaked in a mixture of water and vinegar (optional) 
1 sprig of rosemary, slightly chopped


 Method
1.     Sprinkle yeast on half portion of lukewarm water till frothy (about 5mins).
2.     Dissolve maltose syrup with the balance half of lukewarm water.
3.     Mix yeast water, maltose water and milk together in a jar.



4.     Sift the flour and salt onto a work surface. . Make a well in the centre and add the mashed potato, olive oil and the yeasty milk mixture.



5.     Work the flour and potato into the liquid, working from the inside of the well outwards. Gradually add the rest of the water to bring the dough together


6.     Knead the dough for 10 minutes or until it is soft and spongy. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 30-45 minutes or until it rise double.


7.     Once risen, knock back the dough and place on oiled baking pan and flatten it using hand to a thickness of about 1cm. Then use your fingertips to press down all over the dough, creating lots of little wells. Leave to rise again until for another 30 minutes.


8.     Preheat the oven to 190C (fan forced).

9.     After the dough has risen, generously drizzle over the oil and water mixture and sprinkle with sea salt. Scatter onions and chopped rosemary over the focaccia. Bake for 25mins.




42 comments:

  1. Sonia, the Focaccia looks good! I also want to try it but I got to look for the maltose. I have never used it before.

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  2. I would like to try this too! I have never come across maltose, though. Wonder if it'll work without it. Thanks for sharing, it looks really good!

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  3. Hi Sonia
    Thank you for sharing with us this wonderful recipe right after you are bavk from Italy. Im really ashamed of myself as Im not that good like you do sharing out when Im on hol here. Im in fact lazying around spending quality time with my mum and other family members here. Looking forward to your Italy scenic photographs.

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  4. Can't wait to see your posts on your Italy trip. And all the inspired italian dishes u are going to whip up. Happy a great weekend!
    PS. Thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving such nice comments. :)

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  5. Sonia, nice photos as usual。

    this focaccia looks so tempting, thanks for sharing a great recipe.

    oh ya, I guess u have a 'fruitful' trip ya, waiting for your nice post

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  6. 看来很美味哦。

    谢谢分享一道特别的意大利料理。

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  7. Hi Sonia, actually I think the thickness is just right, just like the one they serve in Italian restaurant here.

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  8. I have not take my dinner yet, seeing this makes me hungry... hehe...

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  9. Is look good and taste good too...

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  10. Dropping by! omg the food looks so yummy! *o*

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  11. Thanks Sonia for sharing, mixing olive with water seems interesting to me, would like to try this out!

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  12. 我不大爱吃面包。。但是却好喜欢吃这个佛卡夏!

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  13. 这面包看起来很不错,一定好吃了!

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  14. I love focaccia and yours look so perfect! Would like to dip it in olive oil :)

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  15. Since this is highly recommended by you, I would like to give it try:) I like balsamic vinegar taste but don't know which brand is the best too.

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  16. Whoa....welcome back dear! I was so excited for you the other day when you were rushing back from Italy and straight to the polling station. haha..... I thought you're not going to make it there in time.
    It's been awhile since I last had them. I want a piece too.:o)
    Enjoy your weekend.
    Kristy

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  17. 感谢分享,有机会我要试试看:)

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  18. Sonia , we need a good dose of foodporn from your Italy trip lol I've watched that show actually when it was aired here :D Your focaccia looks very appetizing ! Will try that recipe sometime .....

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  19. sonia 大力推荐的,我怎能不试呢。。谢谢分享:)

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  20. 谢谢你的分享哦!Focaccia bread是我们家的最爱,可惜我只会吃不会做。。。哈哈哈!!

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  21. You are such a wonderful lady sharing this recipe with full details. I will definitely make it (if I have the time...he he he) because it is our family favourite. Keep up the good work.

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  22. Sonia, I haven't tried focacia before although I've seen them on many cookbooks. Interesting recipe!

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  23. Sonia, focaccia looks PERFECT! I'd love to make one at home. I think I'll be in love so much that this will be my main dish. :D

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  24. You must be missing Italy very much! Your focaccia is very yummy-looking! And I like the small baking pan which fits in the focaccia well! I bought a piece of gruyere cheese 3 weeks ago for making focaccia but still not in action yet. Should do it soon after looking at your focaccia.

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  25. I olso want to try it next time.

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  26. The focaccia looks perfectly done! Well done!

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  27. I'm so... Looking fwd to see ur Italy post. As I was very laze, I don't be border to do any notes during my trip, so I can't have any post on my Europe trip hehe...

    Focaccia dip in good olive oil...yum!

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  28. Chi,
    I never bake focaccia before.
    Can make pizza base too ? Then I really must give it a go:)
    mui

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  29. Good morning,
    Waiting for your post on your trip!
    Lovely bread!

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  30. cant wait to make this as looks very tempting, good with curry definitely.haha. I noticed in "Butter,Flour & and me's" blog also use maltose for making French loaf.

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  31. Sonia, I love Focaccia, gonna try this!

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  32. Hi Sonia, I only make one type of focaccia and yours will be the second, if I am successful with your recipe. Just bought maltose, specially for this. I like the video too. Thanks for sharing.

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  33. Good job with your focaccia... it looks really good! There are different recipes of focaccia and I see you have used the one with potatoes, I usually do not use potatoes because the result is very soft focaccia anyway.
    Ciao.

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  34. Love your sharing, will try the real focaccia when go Italy later in Oct.

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  35. Hi good morning, I baked this bread over weekend, follow those highlighted in red, but I encounter problem, dough did not rise double that much. I baked the
    bread in 210c, oven did not have fan forced, is this temp right? after 25 mins baking, is the timing right? bread turn out to be very oily and soaked in oil and heard. Any advice for me to improve? Thank you for your sharing.

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  36. Soh, did you bake immediately once you pour the olive and water mixture? don't wait, as I afraid water might sip into the bread dough if not bake it immediately.

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  37. Good morning Sonia, Yes, I did bake it immediately follow your step, is the temp 210c (non fan) baked 25 mins, correct? Thank you for sharing.

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  38. Sonia, I just wanna say thanks for such a nice bread recipe. The coverage on the details and even providing an interesting youtube video on the step by step guide was just simply amazing. I tried to day & turned out to be successful & me & kids love the bread. However just to share a note I hv to bake for almost 35 mins for the bread to turn nice golden brown... probably because i didnt preheat my oven long enuf... am not exactly sure what caused the extended 1o mins bake time, nevertheless we love the bread! ^_^ thanks so much for sharingly.

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  39. Hi Sonia. Can I don't add the mashed patato? Or replace with something else?

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