Foccacia - Dinner Party part 1

Tonight I had a bit of a dinner party for a few friends. To start with I made some foccacia's. I made this up sort of mixing up 2 of Jamie’s focaccia recipes, 1 from Jamie’s Kitchen & the other from The Naked Chef. I did half/half with the toppings, half tomato & half basil & Olive Oil. Personally I thought the basil topping was far superior, the mix of garlic, basil, olive oil & murray river pink salt was sensational though there were others who thought the tomato was just as good. Anyway all in all it was much appreciated & enjoyed & I would definetley make it again. Everyone asked if it was acually home made which is a good sign to me. Very yummy & the whole 2 foccacias went with not a crumb to spare. Very stisfying making bread from scratch!

Foccacia

Basic Bread Recipe

3 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
30g sugar
625ml tepid water
1kg strong bread flour
30g salt
extra flour for dusting

Toppings
Cherry tomatoes
Olive oil
Flour
Fresh basil
Garlic
Lemon
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Stage 1. Dissolve the yeast & sugar in half the tepid water.
Stage 2. On a large clean surface, make a pile of the flour, semolina & salt. With one hand make a well in the centre .
Stage 3. Pour the dissolved yeast & sugar mixture into the centre & with your fingers make circular movements, from the centre working outwards, slowly bringing in the dry ingredients until all yeast mixture is soaked up. Then pur the other half of the tepid water into the centre & gradually incorporate all the flour to make a moist dough. If needed add a little extra water.
Stage 4. Knead for 5 minutes & if any sticks to your hands just rub together with a little extra flour.
Stage 5. Flour both hands now & lightly flour the top of the dough. Make into a roundish shape & place on a baking tray. Score the dough with a knife.
Stage 6. Leave the dough covered in glad wrap to prove in a warm, moist, draught free place, it needs to double in size, about 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 220c.

While proving get the tomatoes ready. Prick with a knife & drop into boiling water for about 30 seconds. Drain & cool under cold water, remove the skins. Place in a bowl with some olive oil & put aside.

For second toping, finely chop 1 clove of garlic & a good bunch of basil. Add roughy 3 times as much oil as you have of the basil mixture, a squeeze of lemon juice & salt & pepper.

Take the proved dough & bash the air out, then place on a floured surface & roll to about 2.5cm thick. Transfer to a floured baking tray & push the dough to the edges to fill the tray.

Pour the olive oil over & sprinkle with the basil mixture. On the other half sprinkle the tomatoes & fresh basil. Push your fingers to the bottom of the tray across the whole dough. Leave to prove until doubled in size again the sprinkle tomato half with salt & pepper. Place into preheated oven & cook for around 20 minutes until crisp & golden on top & soft in the middle. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil & scatter with seas salt when taken out of the oven.