Carmelized Onion Rosemary Focaccia

If you're ever craving that free bread you get at those Italian restaurants... let's say.. Macaroni Grill... look no further, this one definitely is a close cousin. I love getting bread at restaurants. I love eating as much of it as possible and don't care if I get full off of it. I always thing that the quality of the bread kind of shows the quality of the restaurant.... good bread... good food.... usually... haha.. there are always exceptions!

Yeast is an amazing thing... this is a modification of Jo's Rosemary Bread from allrecipes.com. This is probably my all time favorite bread to make in my bread machine. I wanted to make focaccia with it today, so I only set my bread machine to the dough setting and them formed it onto a baking sheet. I poked a ton of holes with my fingers, brushed on the oil, and then topped it with caramelized onions and a bit of cheese. This bread is perfect for eating with pastas, or just dipping with olive oil, balsamic vinegar with a bit of cracked black pepper in it.

I did something new today and tried to create a steam environment for my bread to bake in. I wanted that crispy crust. Never in my life have I been afraid of baking... until today. haha. I put in an old pan into the oven as it preheated... and well it started to smoke and give off a horrific smell. I was afraid the fire alarm would go off.. or that the pan itself would catch on fire...I was supposed to put the bread into the oven and throw ice cubes onto the hot tray.. I did that.. but they all migrated to the other side.. so I threw on more and more and more.. but still, they all went to one side (towards the back of the oven)... I gave up and closed the door, hoping that that would be enough water to steam the entire bread... (it wasn't.) I was also hoping that all the water would not evaporate so I would be left with a really really hot pan, that was dried up. Scary. So yes, I was panicking as I was baking it, trying to figure out what to do. Because that pan was there, the bottom of my focaccia did not brown. So I had to remove that incredibly hot pan of water. The bread baked fine. Half of it is soft... half of it is crusty... go figure... The steam technique actually worked!... now if only I had a way to distribute the heat evenly. I think I'll get a cast iron pan, and pour water into it next time. The ice cubes kept shifting and the baking pan was curling.... oh well, lesson learned. Next time I will be more savvy with the steam method. ( I was afraid to spritz it with water because people had horror stories about their oven door and light shattering... just like how pyrex (glass) things do... room temp water + 450+ degrees glass... = really big disaster....)

Caramelized Onion Rosemary Focaccia

Bread:
1 cup warm water
1.5 tsp dry yeast
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp sugar
3 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp Italian seasonings
3 tbsp olive oil
2.5 cups bread flour

Topping:
1/2 onion, sliced thinly
1 tbsp olive oil to saute onions with
1 tbsp olive oil to brush onto bread
1/3 cup mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp Parmesan cheese
A gently sprinkling of coarse sea salt (optional)

1. Add all of the bread ingredients to the bread machine except the flour. Add the flour on top of the mixture. (or as specified by your bread machine.) Select dough setting.
2. Once your dough setting is complete, punch the dough down, remove from machine. Turn onto a baking sheet, and stretch out. Poke holes with fingers or a wooden rod. Let rise in a warm place for at least 1 hour, or until double in size.
3. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a small skillet at medium heat. Add in onions, saute until soft. (Around 5 minutes) Take off heat.
4. Once bread has doubled in size, brush with olive oil, scatter onions around, sprinkle with cheese and salt (optional).
5. Preheat oven with a baking sheet or cast iron pan in the bottom rack at 450 degrees. Once it is preheated, put the bread in the bottom 3rd off the oven. Pour water into the pan (if you're using that.) or toss a lot of ice cubes onto a baking sheet. This will create your steam so that you can have a crustier crust. This is optional, but creates a more textured bread. This bread is really soft if you just bake regularly. Bake for 20 minutes or until brown on all sides and bottom. Do not open the oven door until the last 5 minutes of baking (if you have to check.)

After it's risen twice.. topped with olive oil, onion and cheese. It's a really fluffy and soft dough.
After it baked .. this was the crusty side.. I think I should have stretched it out more to make a flatter focaccia.

Ok I really tried to use my 50mm f/1.8 lens here... didn't quite work out. I gave up when it was time to shoot the truffles. This lens is still annoying to me. I can't shoot foods with it, and I don't really shoot pics of people.. aghhh.. ok back to the kit lens for a really long time...I'm going to buy a filter for all my lens.. my whole system is pretty darn dirty with food residue and fingerprints.... haha
???? I give up on this lens..

I'm trying to find a good recipe for hot cross buns... looks like it's the thing to bake these days because Easter is coming up.... we'll see if I find one. I haven't had much luck making sweet breads. I'm trying to find the dough they use at those Chinatown bakeries for all of their baos.. sigh.. another Asian recipe that is impossible to find.... I need to work at a Chinatown bakery.. haha maybe if I hang around enough they'll spill their secret!