Gluten-free Foccacio Bread - Delish recipe.

It is my son's birthday. It is also my father's birthday. It is also my nephew's son's birthday. It is also the anniversary for my stepson and his lovely wife.

This is a fabulous day for me and my family!!  Hard to forget.

So many wonderful memories! So many more to come.

None of the above has anything to do with today's post. I know for the past few weeks, I  have been inundating you with Brie recipes. All things Brie.
It's a delicious cheese, but woman cannot live on cheese alone.

Bread. I need bread. I may eat gluten-free, but I need my bread. Morning sweet cakes, etc. Bread!

Really good bread is hard to find and make. Really good Gluten-free bread is even harder.

Well, let me share with you one of my greatest finds.

Gluten Free Girl has a cookbook. Her husband is a chef. They've worked recipes together. They've made videos. They are cute.

She made this foccacio and the picture in the cookbook was so wonderful I had to try.

Except, lo and behold, she didn't include a few steps in the recipe. Yipes! I wrote her and she didn't respond (sigh). But I figured it out. I am, after all, a mystery writer and a cook, and I can figure these things out.

Problem solved.

Gluten-free Focaccia Bread

ala Gluten-free Girl

Tweaked!!!

Ingredients:

1 large Yukon Gold potato, peeled and quartered

1  envelope (or 2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup warm water (warm to your wrist, not boiling)

1 cup tapioca flour

¾ cup sorghum flour

½ cup potato starch

½ cup sweet rice flour

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

½ teaspoon guar gum

2 teaspoons kosher salt (plus extra to coat bread)

1 large egg, separated

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried)

½ cup {in addition to above} warm water

1 extra tablespoon salt for boiling water

extra oil for parchment paper *

Directions:

Fill a 6 quart saucepan ¾ full with water. Add 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil. Add the potatoes. Cook over medium-high heat until fork inserted in potato slips out, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.  When the potatoes are cool, mash with a large spoon (or meat tenderizer).

Meanwhile, proof the yeast. Combine the yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Add the warm water (should feel warm to your wrist but not boiling). Stir in gently. Give the mixture about 10 minutes to proof. (It’s okay if it sits longer.)

Combine the tapioca flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, and sweet rice flour in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the xanthan and guar gums and salt.

Add the egg yolk, oil, yeasty water, and rosemary to the dry mixture. Run the mixer on medium until the dough comes together, about five minutes. Now add the mashed potato and an extra half-cup of warm water. The dough will be stiff and thicker than cake batter.

To finish, beat the egg white until stiff. Fold it into the dough. Set the bowl in a warm place and allow the dough to rise until doubled (about 1 hour).

To bake:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Cut a piece of parchment paper about 12 x 12 inches. Grease both sides and set the parchment in a 9-inch pie pan.

Push the dough into the pie pan and smooth the top with a spatula (that is wet with hot water) or clean, wet fingers.  Sprinkle with olive oil and more salt. Put the focaccia in the oven and set a jelly roll-sized pan filled with ice cubes beneath it.  [This adds moisture.]  Bake until the top is browned, about 25-35 minutes. Tip: You can use a meat thermometer to test the inside temperature of the bread. It should be at least 180 degrees. Better if it’s closer to 190. Slip this into the bread at the 25 minute mark.

Cool the focaccia in the pan (in the oven, turned off) for at least 10 minutes. Then remove from oven, remove the focaccia (with parchment paper) from the pie pan and set on a wire rack to cool thoroughly!!  (About 30 minutes).

* * * * * * *

The 4th in A Cheese Shop Mystery series: 

TO BRIE OR NOT TO BRIE
coming February 2013.

You can pre-order the book HERE. 

Click this link to watch the TRAILER

Click this link to read an EXCERPT.

Click this link to hear a PODCAST

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Also, you probably know by now about my alter ego,
DARYL WOOD GERBER...and her new series
A COOKBOOK NOOK MYSTERY series
debuts July 2013

"Like" Daryl's page on Facebook and "follow" Daryl on Twitter.

"She" doesn't say all the same things "Avery" does. Promise.

Say cheese!

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