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Samin Nosrat's Ligurian Focaccia Is Just as Magical as It Looks
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Credit: Ariel Knutson
The second I saw Samin Nosrat and Diego make Ligurian focaccia in the "Fat" episode of Salt Fat Acid Heat on Netflix I knew I was destined to make it at home. There's something about how delicately they treated the dough, the sheer amount of (good) olive oil that they used, and of course the extremely satisfying way they dimpled the dough that just looked so therapeutic. And reader, now that I've made this, let me tell you that it truly lives up to the magic.
There's a couple things you need to know about this recipe before you jump in. First, is that the ingredients are important here. For example, this is not the recipe to swap fancy flour in for all-purpose. If you can, I also recommend searching for Diamond kosher salt, as Samin recommends. I used a different kind of kosher salt, and my focaccia was on the saltier side of things (but still very delicious). This is also the time to use a higher-quality olive oil because it will really come through.
Second, if you've never made focaccia you should know that this recipe is a little different. As Samin talks about in this particular episode, you brine the focaccia before putting it in the oven. You're going to think it looks too wet, but I promise it's probably perfect. The brine adds a delicious saltiness that you don't find in other recipes.
If you're nervous about making focaccia for the first time (understandable!) and want more of a step-by-step visualization, I highly recommend watching Samin make the focaccia with Brad from Bon Appétit. Not only is it helpful, it's very entertaining.
Ingredients
For the dough:
2 1/2 cups
lukewarm water
1/2 teaspoon
active dry yeast
2 1/2 teaspoons
honey
5 1/3 cups
all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons
Diamond Crystal kosher salt, or 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup
extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the pan and finishing
Flaky salt, for finishing
For the brine:
1 1/2 teaspoons
Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1/3 cup
lukewarm water
In a medium bowl, stir together water, yeast, and honey to dissolve. In a very large bowl, whisk flour and salt together to combine and then add yeast mixture and olive oil. Stir with a rubber spatula until just incorporated, then scrape the sides of the bowl clean and cover with plastic wrap. Leave out at room temperature to ferment for 12 to 14 hours until at least doubled in volume.
Spread 2 to 3 tablespoons oil evenly onto a 18-by-13 inch rimmed baking sheet. When dough is ready, use a spatula or your hand to release it from the sides of the bowl and fold it onto itself gently, then pour out onto pan. Pour an additional 2 tablespoons of olive oil over dough and gently spread across. Gently stretch the dough to the edge of the sheet by placing your hands underneath and pulling outward. The dough will shrink a bit, so repeat stretching once or twice over the course of 30 minutes to ensure dough remains stretched.
Dimple the dough by pressing the pads of your first three fingers in at an angle. Make the brine by stirring together salt and water until salt is dissolved. Pour the brine over the dough to fill dimples. Set the focaccia aside to rise for 45 minutes until the dough is light and bubbly.
Thirty minutes into this final proof, adjust rack to center position and a second rack to the upper position. Preheat oven to 450°F. If you have a baking stone, place it on the center rack. Otherwise, invert another sturdy baking sheet and place on that rack. Allow to preheat with the oven until very hot, before proceeding with baking.
Sprinkle focaccia with flaky salt. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes directly on top of stone or inverted baking sheet until bottom crust is crisp and golden brown when checked with a metal spatula. To finish browning top crust, move focaccia to upper rack and bake for 5 to 7 minutes more.
Remove from oven and brush or douse with 2 to 3 tablespoons oil over the whole surface (don't worry if the olive pools in pockets, it will absorb as it sits). Let cool for 5 minutes, then release focaccia from pan with metal spatula and transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Recipe Notes
Storage: To store, wrap in parchment and then keep in an airtight bag or container to preserve texture. Gently toast or reheat any leftover focaccia before serving. Alternatively, wrap tightly to freeze, then defrost and reheat before serving.
Reprinted reprinted with permission courtesy of Netflix's Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. Adapted from Diego Bedin with the help of Josey Baker.
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Two Italian Brothers Slid into My DMs and Shared the Secret to the Best Focaccia
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Credit: Nicole Rufus
Sometimes, my job as a food editor forces me to do some truly objectionable work. For instance, last year I had the absolute displeasure of trying four of the internet's most popular focaccia recipes and judging them for our focaccia recipe showdown. Poor me, right? All jokes aside, that showdown taught me so much about focaccia making, and I still use many of the techniques I learned to this day.
Samin Nosrat's focaccia recipe from her cookbook, Salt Fat Acid Heat, was easily my showdown winner. (My former colleague, Arie, was also a huge fan of Samin's focaccia recipe.) The resulting focaccia is so dreamy. It's pillowy on the inside but crispy on the outside with the perfect level of saltiness. The techniques used in Samin's recipe are what really set it apart from the others for me.
In addition to the 12- to 14-hour fermentation period, the technique I was most intrigued by in Samin's recipe was the salt-water brine. Once the focaccia has been stretched out in the pan, you pour about 1/3 cup of lukewarm salt-water over the dough. It felt so wrong! The dough looked so wet and goopy, but the brine imparts extra moisture and a wonderful salty flavor into the focaccia as it bakes.
After trying Samin's recipe, I really didn't think that I had much more to learn about focaccia baking, but it turns out I was wrong. Usually, I hate it when I'm wrong, but this was a rare instance where it turned out to be a good thing.
A few weeks ago, I was digging through my Instagram messages and found an unopened message from March. It was from two Italian brothers from Liguria who were opening a focaccia bakery in Michigan, called Dante's Bakery. One of the brothers wrote to let me know that he had seen my focaccia showdown and agreed with my evaluation, but he had just one suggestion.
According to him, in order to achieve the very best focaccia results, one should use liquid malt in place of honey as the sugar added to the yeast. Apparently, this is a common practice in Italy and it results in a perfectly crisp, flavorful crust. Now, I may know more than the average person about focaccia, but who I am to argue with two Ligurian focaccia-baking brothers? I wouldn't dare. Instead, I decided I would give it a try by following Samin's focaccia recipe but subbing in 1 tablespoon of liquid malt per the brother's advice. Samin's recipe calls for 2 1/2 teaspoons of honey, so I opted to use just a tad bit more liquid malt, as it's not as sweet as honey.
Not to be dramatic, but the results were kind of mind-blowing. The malt imparts this entirely new depth of flavor into the focaccia that I had not anticipated. It gives the bread a subtle richness. On top of that, the crust was just so … sexy! Sorry! But it's true. It was golden-brown, crisped to perfection, and every bite was an absolute joy. I had my friends over for our weekly Bachelor in Paradise screening, and we devoured this focaccia. Even my friend who had told me just hours before that she wouldn't be eating any gluten that night couldn't resist the temptation.
To the brothers of Dante's Bakery, I thank you! No one has ever slid into my DM's for so worthy a cause. You were not wrong — this truly is the trick to making the best focaccia.
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