Foccacia Art #Recipe by @LibbyKlein #GlutenFree #Bread

Libby Klein Maybe it's because I can't have gluten, but I crave all kinds of bread. Much more than desserts and pasta. This recipe is so easy and the dough can be refrigerated overnight before forming and rising. I'd serve this whole on a wooden cutting board aside of pasta for a fancy company meal. The decoration alone gives the wow factor, even though all I did was stick everything onto the bread before rising. If you try this yourself, tag me in the picture so I can see what design you created.

Gluten-Free Focaccia Art

Yield: 1 9X12 loaf

Ingredients:

3¼ cups Gluten-Free Flour Blend
1 tbsp granulated sugar
2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2½ cups milk
4 tablespoon butter, melted
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Assorted vegetables, herbs, and fruits for decoration
1 teaspoon flaked sea salt
Sprinkle of Nigella Seeds - optional

Directions:

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add gluten-free flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Using the beater blade, turn on the mixer to combine on low. Slowly pour in the milk and melted butter. Increase speed to medium and beat for 5 minutes.

Bring the dough to a ball in the bowl, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. Get your edible decorations ready.

When the dough has risen, pour about 2-3 tablespoon of the olive oil into the bottom of a 9x12 sheet pan (a quarter sheet). If you don't have one of these a rectangular cake pan will do. Spread the oil around with one hand. 

Dump the dough on top of the olive oil. Using your already oiled hand, spread the dough to the sides of the pan edge to edge. 

Place your herbs, vegetables, and fruits on top of the dough to make any artistic rendering your like. Press them down to help them attach, but don't try to submerge them. Brush the top of everything with more olive oil. Then sprinkle with flakey sea salt and Nigella seeds if you have them. Nigella is one of those spices I told you about in my spice hoarding confession. I've pasted a description below from another website. They did a much better job of explaining things for you. I would have just said they taste like onion to me. 

What Is Nigella Seed? 

Taken from The Spruce Eats

Nigella seed comes from the seeds of the flowering plant Nigella sativa, which is found throughout Turkey, Syria, and parts of Iraq.

Nigella is sometimes referred to by other names, such as black cumin, black onion seed, and black sesame seed, which can lead to some confusion, as nigella is not related to any of these. Rather, it's a member of the Ranunculaceae family, which also includes flowers such as the buttercup and delphinium. Nigella seeds have a strong aroma and a flavor profile that has notes of onion, oregano, and black pepper. 

Place your pan in a cool oven with a pan of just boiled and steamy water below it. Let the focaccia rise for about an hour. Remove the pan from the oven to Preheat it to 400 degrees. When the oven is ready, bake the focaccia for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. 

The added toppings make the loaf so flavorful that you don't need anything else, but a little extra olive oil won't be discouraged. You can see that I added peppers, cherry tomatoes, basil, shallots, scallion, olives, a sprig of rosemary, and that sun is made from slices of plum.

Gluten-free baker Poppy McAllister and her aunt Ginny are looking forward to a quiet, homey Christmas at their B&B in Cape May, but unfortunately, death isn’t taking a holiday this year . . .

Ever since Thanksgiving, Poppy and her pals have been left with an unsolved mystery of the romantic kind. But at least this mystery isn’t the kind that involves murder. That all changes when the body of a fish supplier is discovered in the kitchen of her ex’s restaurant—and he’s frozen, not fresh.

For once, it’s not Poppy who tripped over the corpse, yet she can’t escape being drawn in since the victim has a note taped to him reading Get Poppy. Figures—an engagement ring isn't labeled, but the dead guy is addressed to her. Now, while Aunt Ginny plans a tree-trimming party and pressures Poppy to decode a mysterious old diary, the amateur sleuth is asked to “unofficially” go undercover at the restaurant to help the police. Until then, the only crime Poppy had been dealing with was Figaro’s repeated thefts of bird ornaments from the tree; now it looks like it’s going to be a murder-y Christmas after all.

 

Libby Klein grew up in Cape May, NJ where she attended high school in the '80s. Her

classes revolved mostly around the Culinary sciences and Drama, with one brilliant semester in Poly-Sci that may have been an accident. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten-free goodies, collect fluffy cats, and translate sarcasm for people who are too serious. She writes from her Northern Virginia office where she serves a very naughty black smoke Persian named Sir Figaro Newton. You can keep up with her shenanigans by signing up for her Mischief and Mayhem Newsletter on her website. www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/

Onion Rye Bread

I have come to the conclusion that bread is a miracle. You throw all these things in a pot, mash them up, and it miraculously swells and bakes into something edible and delicious. It makes me wonder who thought it would be a good idea in the first place. How did anyone know they were creating something edible?

Do you wonder about things like that? What caveman looked at mushrooms and thought yum! Who thought letting milk curdle into cheese was a good idea? Not to mention alcohol. I would have thrown it out as spoiled!

You might recall that I blogged about artisanal bread recently -- Almost No Knead Bread. The whole thing started because my mom asked for New York Rye. Well, this isn't exactly New York Rye, but it's really good! I experimented with a few loaves and finally decided this one works for us. It's made basically the same way as the other bread I blogged about. However, it does require kneading. Somehow, this kneading doesn't bother me so much. Maybe it's because it doesn't need a lot of kneading. Or maybe it's because it's the next day. I think I like having to start the bread at night -- it's not a big, long bread baking marathon. Plus, while it's a little intimidating at first, once you've baked bread this way a couple of times, it's no big deal at all. Never thought I'd say that about baking bread without a machine!

I've used pink sea salt, but any salt would work. You might want to use a little bit less if you use standard table salt.

Onion Rye Bread

• Dutch oven or deep lidded roaster that can withstand 500 degrees (wood or plastic handles may be a problem)
• Parchment paper
• kitchen towel

1 3/4 cups plain flour + extra for kneading
1 1/4 cups rye flour
1 1/2 teaspoons pink sea salt
1/4 teaspoon rapid-rise yeast
1/2 cup warm water
3/4 cup mild beer (I used Heineken)
1/8 cup caraway seeds
1/4 cup minced dried onion
1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons cornmeal
cold water
Kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl until it looks ragged.

Cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warmish draft-free spot overnight, about 8-12 hours.

Turn out onto a floured board and knead, adding flour as necessary until it is no longer sticky.

Scatter cornmeal over a long piece of parchment paper. Place the dough on top of the cornmeal. Cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warmish spot, out of drafts for two hours.

Place the Dutch oven into your oven and preheat to 500 degrees.

Meanwhile, brush dough with cold water and sprinkle with Kosher salt.

Using the ends of the parchment paper as "handles" place inside of the hot Dutch oven.

Cover and insert in oven. Reduce heat to 425 and bake 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 20-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.