Focaccia!

In case anybody cares -- doubtful, I know -- yesterday's focaccia was wonderful, and wonderfully easy. I just mixed the flour/water/yeast/salt around 3:30pm one day, covered it tightly and left it on the counter until around 9:30 the next morning. By then, it had risen a lot and was bubbly all over.

Having it in a glass bowl has its advantages. Next step involved simply putting some olive oil into a cast iron skillet and coating the bottom, then I tipped the dough into that, turning once to be sure it was totally covered in the oil, then patted it enough that it covered the bottom of the skillet. Then I poked some roasted garlic bits into the dough, covered it again and ignored it for a couple more hours.

Recipe calls for 550F cooking, but I doubt this old stove goes that high, and I wouldn't feel comfortable trying. I had it around 450 or a little over. Hard to be sure as the oven isn't accurate, but it was hot. Recipe calls for 16-24 minutes, but I semi-panicked when it had gotten quite brown at 15 minutes so I took it out and finished the bottom on the stovetop, as suggested. In retrospect, I think another couple of minutes in the oven would have been good, browning the top even further.

All that was left then was to spoon the quick garlic/butter/oil/oregano mixture I'd made while the bread was cooking right onto the hot top so it would soak in nicely.

The crumb was good, though there again another minute or so in the oven would have helped. I also cut it while it was still hot and squishy, but I couldn't wait.

You can see the roasted garlic -- which I'm not convinced was worth the effort -- and the oil seeping into the bread from the top. So yummy! I actually ate half of it, though I'm rather embarrassed to admit that. I had to put the rest into the freezer so I wouldn't eat all of it. I also made some good chicken/veg soup yesterday so both will be part of my meals the next few days.

The recipe is from one of my favorite sources for anything food related, J. Kenzi Lopez-Alt on Serious Eats, if anyone wants to try it. Highly recommended!