We’re very much in what I like to call “salad season these days. A sure way to know summer is fast approaching is that the garlic is looking less green and more like the adult bulb we typically know it as.
Clockwise from left: Green Garlic, Spinach, Green Kale (busting out of its plastic bag!), two heads of Red Leaf Lettuce, two bunches of Red Scallions, Cremini Mushrooms, Mixed Cherry Tomatoes, and Shunkyo Radishes (with greens still attached)
I’m not very skilled at bread baking. While I’ve got no problems with cake-like breads, like banana or zucchini breads, I sometimes struggle with making yeast breads. I’ve had more than a few sets or rolls turn out tough. This week’s focaccia recipe may be the first step towards conquering my fears.
The first step of course, is combining the warm water and the yeast. After the yeast has dissolved, whole wheat flour, olive oil, sugar and salt are added. Then, flour is added until the dough reaches a stiff consistency. I should note: the original recipe suggests using bread flour, but I was waaaaay too cheap to buy flour I wasn’t going to use that often. Instead, I used regular whole wheat flour in place of whole wheat bread flour and all purpose flour instead of bread flour. The dough is then kneaded and left to rise until is doubles in size, about 45 minutes.
Waiting is always the hardest part.
After the dough has risen, thin basil slices are incorporated. The dough rests for 10 minutes, then gets rolled out into a pan and rests 10 more minutes. Finally, the tomatoes, garlic, and cheese are pressed into the top of the loaf. The tomatoes should be cut side up so they cook down nicely under the heat of the broiler. 15-ish minutes at 450 (plus additional cheese melty/tomato toasty time under the broiler) is all it takes to turn out a great-tasting and impressive looking loaf of focaccia!
Sorry the photo is a bit blurry, but it was hard to see through all the smoke.
The original recipe suggests using a 10″ x 15″ jelly roll pan to bake the bread, but more important than the dimensions is that the pan have a bit of a lip so the olive oil doesn’t run off and burn in the bottom of your oven. Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything, but let’s just say my neighbors probably didn’t appreciate hearing my smoke alarm as frequently as they did while I was baking this.
This recipe is another winner from The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
The original recipe calls for sherry or aged red wine vinegar, but I substituted balsamic with no problems. Use whatever you prefer.
Full recipe follows, but first, some photos. I knew I had to make this recipe, when I found the specific variety of cherry tomatoes recommended by the recipe (Sun Golds) at my local farmers market)!
So pretty, they got their own picture.
First, slice the squash.
Pan fry the squash in oil. (I used olive oil.) Feel free to remove pieces as they cook through, adding new slices as you go.
Last, drizzle the squash with vinegar, add halved cherry tomatoes and feta cheese, and enjoy!
CSA in the Suburbs 
