Bigger is better.....

One of the reasons I got into cooking was my love of bread, all bread. It's one of my favourite things to eat and so versatile. It's fantastic in it's basic and simple form, and can be flavoured with nearly anything you like. I have to say I do enjoy traditional flavours in bread. A simple white farmhouse loaf, tomato, olive, caramelised onion, and a rustic granary topped with  a huge smear of butter and pate. You can't beat it.

My friends and I get on well for many reasons, but one is our mutual love of food so whenever we meet we always have a feast. Last week we did absolutely that, each bringing something to devour together. We had crisps and dips, crab pate, vegetable crudites, sun-dried tomatoes, marinated artichokes, a pasta salad of broccoli, garlic roasted courgettes and stilton, and one my favourite bread accompaniments to mezzes like the one we enjoyed, a huge focaccia with tomatoes and olives. 

Focaccia is simple and delicious, lovely to have anything spread on top, and it can be dipped in most things too. My recipe is super simple and perhaps not what Paul Hollywood would be impressed with as the air bubbles weren't as big as I'm sure he would like to see, but it was a hearty and soft result. 

Bigger is definitely better.

I also apologise for the cloth in the bottom right-hand corner, 

but it is important to clear up as you go.....

Not a very good picture, as my flash didn't go off but 

I still think it looked good.

Tomato and Olive Focaccia 

I really do love this, and if you're good at making things look pretty (which I am not) it can work well as a centrepiece for a dinner table. 

The following recipe does make 2 nicely sized focaccias, I just like things big. I cheated with this recipe as I did it in a mixer with a dough hook, but you can hand knead it. It makes a sticky dough, but if you smother your hands and the dough in more oil, it should be fine. 

Ingredients

500g strong white flour

10g yeast

5g salt

1/2 tsp sugar

350ml water (room temperature I normally aim for, slightly warmer, slightly colder doesn't matter)

50ml oil (I used oil from a sun-dried tomato jar to add an extra flavour)

A hand-full of olives, black or green, whichever it available, and some cherry tomatoes.

First, put the flour in a bowl, and add the salt and sugar on one side and the yeast on the other. Pour in the oil and then the water and mix together. 

- If using a mixer, just turn it on a slow speed and leave it mixing for 6-8 minutes until the dough is really stretchy and when the hook is lifted out the dough sticks to it and stretches without tearing. 

- If mixing by hand, mix with a big spoon until it all comes together then tip it onto an oiled surface. It is quite sticky so if you rub oil on your hands and on the dough periodically while kneading it will be fine. Knead for around 8 minutes, or 10 if you can but it does get a bit tiring.

Once kneaded place in an oiled tub for an hour and a half or until doubled in size. Once risen, tip it out straight into an oiled, square baking tin (I actually used a roasting tin for this one as it is so big. If you're making 2, tip it out and cut it with a sharp knife and place the two bits of dough onto oiled trays. Leave to rise again for around half an hour to forty minutes until it has clearly risen. Once risen, you can add your toppings; I just placed the tomatoes and olives in alternate rows, but you can add them in whatever way you like, and grind some sea salt over the top. Bake in an oven at 200C for 20 minutes. or until golden on the top. Place on a cooling rack and serve hot or cold. 

The soundtrack today was just the radio, but the best one I heard that I could listen to over and over again is this great one from Gorgon City ft. Jennifer Hudson - Go All Night.