Breakfast Focaccia With Grapes And Figs Recipes

GRAPE FOCACCIA

Steps:

• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough-hook attachment, mix together flour and yeast. Add water and mix on medium speed until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until bubbling and doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
• Add salt; attach bowl to mixer fitted with the dough-hook attachment and mix on low speed 3 minutes. Increase speed to medium and mix 30 seconds more (dough should be loose and sticky).
• Using a dough scraper, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Fold bottom edge of dough up toward center of dough and gently pat to deflate. Fold top edge down toward center, slightly overlapping bottom edge; pat gently, tapping off excess flour as you work (dough will be difficult to handle, but try not to incorporate too much flour). Gently transfer dough to a large bowl, seam-side down. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and repeat folding process. Return dough to bowl and cover with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees (425 degrees if using a convection oven) with rack in center lined with a pizza stone, for at least 45 minutes.
• Coat a 14-by-3-inch round cake pan with 1/3 cup oil; turn dough out into pan, coating with oil. With oiled fingertips, push dough out toward edges of pan. If dough starts to retract, cover with plastic and let stand 5 minutes, then continue until it reaches edges of pan. In a bowl, toss grapes with remaining 1 tablespoon oil; arrange evenly on top of dough, gently pressing to adhere. Cover with plastic wrap; let stand 45 minutes.
• Liberally sprinkle dough with flaky salt and sanding sugar. Dough should be well oiled; if necessary, drizzle with up to 2 tablespoons more oil.
• Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until bottom is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Immediately transfer focaccia to a wire rack. Drizzle with any oil remaining in pan; sprinkle again with more flaky salt and sanding sugar. Let cool slightly. Focaccia may be served warm or at room temperature.

FOCACCIA WITH ROSEMARY AND GRAPES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Roll the pizza dough into a rectangle on a sheet of parchment paper. Place the dough and the parchment on a baking sheet.
• Using a pastry brush, cover the top of the dough with olive oil. Sprinkle the dough with coarse sea salt. Sprinkle the dough with the garlic, shallot, and rosemary. Spread the grapes over the top of the dough and push down into the dough.
• Bake the focaccia until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cut into slices and serve.

GRAPE RICOTTA BREAKFAST FOCACCIA

Steps:

• Put a baking sheet in the oven and preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• Pour the melted butter on a 12-inch round pizza pan. Place dough on pan and turn to coat with butter. Gently stretch dough to fit pan. Scatter grapes on top of dough and sprinkle fennel over all. Bake in oven, rotating the pan halfway through, until dough is brown and grapes are grapes get juice and reduce in size, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Remove the focaccia from the oven. Drizzle with the honey, sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper evenly over all. Let focaccia cool 10 minutes or more before serving. Slice into eight wedges and serve warm or at room temperature with ricotta on the side.

FIG FOCACCIA

Steps:

• Put the yeast in the large mixing bowl of the mixer and pour 1/4 cup of the warm water over it. Because this is quite a wet dough, it is easier to knead in a standing mixer, but if you do not have one just use a big bowl and mix by hand. Let the yeast stand a few minutes to dissolve, then smear it around with your finger to make sure it is softened. Mix the salt with the rest of the water, and pour it into the bowl along with 2 1/2 cups of the flour. Attach the dough hook, and let it knead the dough for about 2 minutes, adding just a little more flour if it seems very wet (or knead with a light touch by hand for 2 to 3 minutes).
• Lightly flour your work surface, and scrape the dough out of the bowl onto it. Turn the dough over on itself several times, using a dough scraper and your floured hands; don't try to knead vigorously, because the dough is too wet and sticky.
• Clean out the mixing bowl and oil it lightly. Dump the dough in, and turn it to grease all over. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and leave the dough to rise until it has more than doubled in volume-about 1 hour, depending on the warmth of your kitchen.
• Select eight plump figs of uniform size, and save them for the topping. Chop the rest roughly into about six pieces per fig, and mix them in with the risen dough, deflating it and distributing them evenly.
• Generously sprinkle cornmeal over an 8-by-12-inch area of the baking sheet. Turn the dough out onto the cornmeal, and smear the remaining oil over the top, spreading it around with your fingers. Now pat and stretch the dough out into an oval shape approximately 8 inches wide and 11 to 12 inches long. Cut the reserved figs in half, stem to bottom, and arrange them at even intervals on top of the dough, cut side up, pressing them in slightly. Sprinkle the sugar all over the top.
• Preheat the oven to 425°. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes while the oven heats, then bake it for 25 minutes. Remove the bread to a rack. It should settle and cool for at least 10 minutes; then serve it warm. It can, of course, be reheated.
• When I bake at home, I don't hesitate to move things around the oven. It's a large professional oven with spots of quite variable heat, and, perhaps because of the massive griddle that sits on top, it retains heat long after the thermostat is lowered. Even if the dial is at 300°, my oven's top heat continues to brown foods like a broiler. These idiosyncrasies are a blessing in a way, because they demand that I pay attention to what is happening in the oven, and they've taught me how to move my dishes up and down on the racks and from the front to the back, to cover and uncover them as needed: to do whatever I need to do to get the dish that I want.
• I have incorporated these practices into many of my recipes, because using your whole oven to control the rates of cooking and browning will help you deal with the peculiarities of your own oven. And, of course, oven thermostats vary so much, just setting the dial for the same temperature does not ensure the same heat.
• The bread-pudding recipe on page 372 is a good example of how you can use the heat zones in your oven-and your racks-to your advantage. In the first step, you set both the heat and the pan of bread high up, so the top heat will quickly caramelize the bread without drying it out. But you set a rack in the middle-and lower the thermostat-to get more bottom heat on the baking dish, and slower cooking, to set the custard in the pudding. Stay flexible, though: you might want to move the pudding higher if the top is not browning as you want it-or you might need to cover it if it's darkening too fast even at a lower temperature setting. And when you are roasting or braising in the oven and there is too much liquid in the pan, just set the pan directly on the floor of the oven, where you get the most intense bottom heat.
• So please don't just let your oven do whatever it wants-there are ways to control it.

BREAKFAST FOCACCIA

Steps:

• Prepare the dough for basic focaccia, setting it to rise as in Step 4, above.
• While the dough is rising, heat the two tablespoons olive oil in a skillet. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until very lightly browned. Set aside.
• Once the focaccia dough has risen and has been placed in the pan ready to bake, as in Step 6 above, spread it with the sauteed onions. Sprinkle with poppy seeds.
• Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until browned on the bottom and lightly browned on top.
• Remove from the oven and cover with slices of smoked salmon. Stir the sour cream to thin it and using a spoon, drizzle it over the smoked salmon. Cut into squares and serve.

GRAPE AND WALNUT SWEET FOCACCIA

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment proof the yeast with the granulated sugar in the water for 5 minutes, or until the mixture is foamy, add the flour, the salt, 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, the cinnamon, and the butter, and combine the dough well. With the dough hook knead the dough for 2 minutes, or until it is soft and slightly sticky. Form the dough into a ball, transfer it to an oiled bowl, and turn it to coat it with the oil. Let the dough rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, or until it is double in bulk. The dough may be made up to this point, punched down, and kept, covered and chilled, overnight. Let the dough return to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe. Press the dough evenly into an oiled jelly-roll pan, 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 by 1 inches, and let it rise, covered loosely, in a warm place for 1 hour, or until it is almost double in bulk.
• In a bowl stir together the grapes, the walnuts, and the Marsala and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the dough. Sprinkle the focaccia with the remaining 1/3 cup brown sugar and bake it in the bottom third of a preheated 400°F. oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until it is cooked through and topping is caramelized. Let the focaccia cool in the pan on a rack and serve it warm or at room temperature.