Whole Wheat Focaccia

As I am shortly headed to my mountain top retreat, and to visit the She Wolf, and thence to provide some culinary creations for her pleasure, I will need to review / develop said recipes.

One favorite is Focaccia, but not the pallid, anemic, weak disaster white bread focaccia is, a hearty and robust whole wheat Focaccia…

Focaccia is a flat oven-baked Italian bread, similar to a pizza but not exactly the same, and is usually topped with herbs or other ingredients. It is quite popular in Italy and is usually seasoned with olive oil and sometimes herbs, and may be topped with onion, cheese and meat, or flavored with a number of vegetables.

The most typical focaccia is simply baked dough topped with olive oil and a simple herb like rosemary or sage, and salted with coarse salt.

Focaccia doughs are similar in style and texture to pizza doughs, consisting of high-gluten flour, oil, water, salt and yeast. It is typically rolled out or pressed by hand into a thick layer of dough and then baked in a stone-bottom or hearth oven.

The practice of dotting the bread creates multiple wells in the bread by using a finger or the handle of a utensil to poke the unbaked dough. As a way to preserve moisture in the bread, olive oil is then spread over the dough, by hand or with a pastry brush prior to rising and baking.

I’ll start by preheating the oven to it’s max, and let it sit there warming the stones, while I make the focaccia dough.

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