Friday, November 16, 2012

Helen and Simon




Tomato and Olive Foccacia Bread

For the bread.
3c self raising flour
1/2c tomato paste (or Pizza sauce)
1Tbsp yeast
A good sprinkle of mixed herbs
A good sprinkle of sliced black olives (to taste)
3/4c warm water

Combine, it's not a very damp dough so start with a spoon but use your hands to finish it - kind of a preliminary kneading I guess.

Whack the dough (in a bowl) into the hot water cupboard. Let it sit for around an hour - hour and a half. Pull it out and give it a quick kneading. Throw it back in there. I forgot about mine and left it overnight (usually only needs another hour, mine got an extra 8 or 9 hours) and the top of the dough dried out but I was able to rectify it with a splattering of olive oil and a decent knead while pre heating the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Line a tray with baking paper and squish the dough out into a flat loaf shape.

For the toppings
Olive oil
Sliced black olives
Rock salt (I use organic manuka and garlic smoked rock salt, but any will do) 

Drizzle with olive oil, grind some rock salt over the top and add some more olives, massage it all in and then bang it in the oven for 30 minutes (until it sounds hollow when you tap it).

This makes a small to medium sized loaf, so if you're feeding big eaters or more than 3 or 4 people, I'd suggest doubling the recipe and baking longer.



Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Book me now please!


Not having a solid job during NZ's worst unemployment rate for 13 years isn't ideal... but, I'll make it work. Book me!