Easy and Quick Focaccia Bread

I was looking for a good focaccia bread recipe to go with my High Desert Pizza Focaccia Sandwich, but never found what i was looking for. That is until I found this recipe. I am pretty particular when it comes to recipes and the focaccia bread recipes I found in the past just didn’t sit well with me for one reason or another. I even tried one from Michael Chiarello from the Food Network and to tell you the truth it wasn’t good at all.

Oh by the way I went and bought a rosemary bush for $4.50 at Lowes. Way cheaper than the package you would buy at the grocery store and its pretty much a never ending supply. I wouldn’t omit the rosemary if I were you.

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Rosemary Focaccia Bread

Adapted and slightly modified from stephencooks.com

Ingredients

• 5 C. Flour (I use bread flour for everything but all purpose is good)
• 4 t. Active dry yeast
• 2 t. Sugar
• 2 t. Salt (I use Kosher)
• 4 T. Fresh rosemary, chopped (leave some coarsely chopped for the top)
• 1/2 C. Olive oil + more for baking
• 1 3/4 C. Warm water (about 105 – 110º)
• Plenty of coarse salt (I use the coarse setting on my Costco Sea Salt grinder)
• 1 egg yolk beaten with 2 tsp water

Directions

1. Place the flour, yeast, sugar, 2 teaspoons salt and half the rosemary (if using) in the food processor bowl. Process in a few bursts to mix. With the processor running, slowly add 1 cup of the water, then the 1/2 cup olive oil and finally the remaining 3/4 cup water. Process until the dough coalesces into a ball and starts riding around on the blade. Turn out on a floured board and knead a few strokes. Dough should be relatively stiff but still pliable. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place ’til doubled, about 1-1/2 hour.
2. Place the baking stone in the oven and preheat to 450º. Punch the dough down, divide into 2 balls and flatten each ball to a disk about 8 – 10 ” in diameter. Place on a corn-meal covered board or peel, cover with a clean towel and allow to rise in a warm place for about 1/2 hour.
3. When the dough has finished the second rising, use your forefinger to poke deep dimples all over the loaf, about 1-1/2″ apart. Drizzle olive oil over the loaves filling up the dimples as you go, scatter on the remaining rosemary and the coarse salt and slide them onto the stone. Bake 10 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 375º and bake 20 – 25 minutes more, until the bread is a nice dark golden brown. Two minutes before the bread is done, brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with more coarse salt and if you want more rosemary (as you brush it with the eggwash some of the rosemary on the top will fall off).
4. Allow to cool on a rack for 5 – 10 minutes before serving.

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