The first attempt: Honey Focaccia with Apple, Figs and Ricotta
The inaugural bread recipe for this site was one I’d come across about a month ago in a search for an easy, straightforward focaccia bread that wouldn’t take all day to make. Originally, printed in the November 2003 issue of FOOD, I found the recipe while searching the New York Times “Dining and Wine” section. When a visit to my grandmother’s last weekend led to picking fresh figs off my grandfather’s tree in the backyard, I thought this was an ideal time to try this recipe.
Focaccia is a flat, Italian bread, oven-baked and often flecked with herbs and salt and drizzled with olive oil. Some versions are a bit heartier and topped with meats, onions or cheeses, or even covered in sauce and toppings to make a pizza. My favorite version has always been a warm wedge of rosemary focaccia to compliment a winter soup or summer salad. So what I really liked about this recipe is that it was a twist on a traditional favorite and something that could stand alone as an afternoon snack or fancy bread for a dinner or lunch.
Below is a photo of the bread just before it went into the oven. Better quality (and more) photos to follow in future posts!
At first read, the recipe is fairly straightforward, but as I’m discovering, there are multiple variables that can eliminate the simplicity from any bread making. Some notes on the recipe:
Since baking in a non-air conditioned kitchen during a summer afternoon doesn’t lend itself to an ideal bread-rising environment, I used a bread machine for the mixing and rising steps. Focaccia breads requires two rounds of rising, the first of which happens after mixing the initial ingredients; the second happens after the bread is shaped. I used the dough function on my bread machine, then shaped the dough and let it rise again outside the machine. I didn’t see much of a difference between the first and second rise, which didn’t seem to matter a whole lot since the bread increased substantially in size in the oven.
Unfortunately, I found the oven temperature and time were not very accurate. If I were to bake the bread again, I’d follow the baking instructions I have for a recipe book for a bread machine—preheat the oven to 450 and then reduce it to 375 when the bread is put into the oven, leaving it in for closer to 20 minutes.
Also, I used barely a cup of ricotta and later realized I could’ve been a bit more heavy handed. Using the best ingredients you can (particularly topping-wise) will really help this bread to shine. As I mentioned earlier, the figs were from my grandfather’s trees—trees that had remained fairly untouched except from fruit picking the past few years. I used honey that I had picked up from a farmers market in Cambridge, MA and the citrus olive oil I used for drizzling was a blood orange variety from the Dry Creek Olive Co. in California (my parents receive olive oil from the company every few months). Unfortunately apple season isn’t quite here yet so the Gala wasn’t local or seasonal and I didn’t use organic white flour since I didn’t feel like making a trip out to the store. The ricotta was store bought as well, but if you think ahead enough, a batch could be made earlier that day (or a day before).
The focaccia was best straight from the oven, still warm, but still great the rest of the day. The next day, not so much. The flavors of the honey, apple and fig though really melded well and the touches of ricotta gave the focaccia a creamy texture that the more traditional versions don’t have. As had been my initial goal, the recipe didn’t take all day and was fairly easy and even better, brought some sweetness to a summer afternoon!
