OMG, I LOVE bread. Do you love bread? I recently started baking breads. Probably not a good idea since I have no will power when it comes to bread. But, Sunday my friend Leslie and I were at the local Italian festival and we stopped into a little Italian market for a samich. I had the most amazing focaccia bread. Well, as what usually happens when I discover something I like, I was obsessed with focaccia. I called the market to see where they got the bread and they wouldn’t tell me! So, naturally I had to try to make it myself. I searched the web and found several recipes. But one site claimed to make the best focaccia bread in the world. Not the best in town, or best in the county, or best in the country…but BEST IN THE WORLD!! Of course I had to see if this was true. OMG, OMG…..you must make this. You must make this SOON….like right after you read this post!!! Super simple recipe, excellent texture, so soft and tender, and truly, it is the best focaccia I have ever had. It was better than the one that I had at the Italian market. Seriously.  I sliced up some fresh mozarella, made a little bit of fresh marinara sauce for dipping and kept muttering M-m-m-m-m-m while I ate. I had to use some real heavy duty self control though. It was hard to stop!! Before baking, I sprinkled the entire top with a mix of sea salt, black pepper, garlic, fresh thyme and rosemary. I think I will try parmesan and sundried tomato next……and then maybe green chile and cheese…and then olive and onion…..and then……a pizza version…oh gosh, the possibilities are endless!

Recipe:

4 cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 pkg yeast

2 cups water

Mix the flour, salt and yeast together in a large bowl. slowy add the water and stir with a wooden spoon till it all comes together and pulls away from the bowl. If it’s too wet, add a bit more flour. Dump it out onto a floured cutting board and knead it for 1 MINUTE. put it in an olive oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrappy stuff. Put it in a warm place for 1 HOUR. Heat your oven to 400. Remove plastic, and punch the dough. Dont handle it too much. Place it in a well olive oiled 9×11 pan. Poke holes all over with your finger or a wood spoon handle. cover entire thing with olive oil. Don’t skimp on the oil. Then sprinkle on your toppings and bake it for 10 minutes. Sprinkle more olive oil and turn pan, and bake another 10 minutes.  (I only did 5 minutes since I like my bread light in color.) remove from the oven and brush more olive oil. YES! more oil….trust me. I dont even like olive oil and this was amazing. Let it sit in the pan for about 10 minutes and then remove. Then, just devour it….shove it in your face….pour yourself a glass of wine, enjoy. I made a great samich with it today. YUM YUM.