Focaccia bread

I made focaccia bread for the first time this week and it turned out great, for the first try. It took a day and a half, but it was worth it.

I got the recipe from a yard sale book: Sheila Lukins All Around the World Cookbook.

1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup plus 2 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I used regular all-purpose, didn't have unbleached.)
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the loaves
2 teaspoons salt (opt.)
herbs optional or use herbs of your choice
1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
Cornmeal, for dusting

1. Make a sponge: In a large bowl stir together the yeast, 1/2 cup warm water, and 1/4 cup flour. Scatter the remaining 2 2/3 cups flour over the sponge. Do not stir. Set aside in a draft-free place until the sponge rises up
through the flour, about 30 minutes.

2. Add the remaining 1 cup warm water, the olive oil, and salt to the bowl. Stir to combine. Stir in the fresh herbs.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 4 to 5 minutes. The dough
will be very soft and slightly sticky.

3. Shape the dough into a loose ball, place it in an oiled bowl, and turn the dough in the bowl to coat it well with
oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a draft-free place until the dough does not spring back when lightly
pressed, about 1 hour. Punch dough down, reshape into a ball, and refrigerate covered 8 hours or overnight.

4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, gently press out the air. and cut the dough into 2 equal pieces.
Shape each half into a ball and place at least 6 inches apart on a heavily floured tray or table. Lightly brush the tops with oil, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

5. Put a baking stone or heavy baking sheet (rimless) in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

6. Once the dough has risen, use floured hands to stretch and flatten each ball into a 10 inch disk (I made mine into
rectangle shapes). Prick the dough all over with a fork and brush each disk with olive oil and with a topping of your choice(opt). Dust stone or baking sheet with cornmeal and transfer disk to stone or sheet.
Or bake one at a time. If you bake one at a time. Store second disk covered in refrigerator.
When disk is placed in the oven, spritz the oven w few times with water from a plant mister and quickly close the door.
Bake until the focaccia is nicely colored, about 25 minutes. Remove the finished focaccia and transfer to a wire rack
for cooling.

One loaf is already gone. Yum.

I have not had much luck with regular bread, so it was nice to have some kind of bread come out the way it was supposed to.

I'll have to try it now... when I first took up bread making after years of neglecting the art..

I met failure after failure - or worse, I'd get a spectacular loaf followed by 2 of less than stellar quality. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

What else can you put on a focaccia?

pesto topping or an olive oil and garlic topping. I thought a cheese of your choice would be good baked in the bread or on top or both.;-) Also, you could add Parmesan cheese to the garlic and oil topping. The possibilities are endless.