larry_stewart
Master Chef
Just to start things off, for as much experience and decent of a cook I am ( not to sound pompous, arrogant or conceded ), baking is not my thing. Not that my finished products are bad, they are often quite good. For me, its just messy and I dont enjoy it as much as throwing a pot of soup together, which is why baking is usually my wife's thing.
Anyway, to get to the question, I have been making a Focaccia for several years. Everything about the recipe is simple , and the end product always comes out tasting great ( I've made it a half dozen times or so, and it consistently tastes good). The issue I have is the tomatoes which are pressed into the dough, dont really adhere to the dough once baked. Every time you cut the bread up, the tomato half pieces fall right off. I was wondering if there is any way to have he tomatoes more embedded in the dough, so they become part of the bread, and not just something sitting on top that will fall off easily.
The final steps of the process before baking are as followed:
- Place rolled dough into lightly greased pan ( I put a layer of parchment on the bottom to make sure it comes out easily, which it does).
- Allow to rise for 20 minutes ( This is a second rise, the first was as a ball of dough)
- Poke holes in the dough wall the way down through the dough to the pan with fingers or back of spoon ( I used a wooden spoon).
- Press half tomato pieces into the dough
- Sprinkle with herbs/ spices ( I used oregano and rosemary).
- Sprinkle with a flaky salt
- Bake accordingly ( I dont have he recipe in hand, so not sure of temp).
- After baking, take out and let cool on rack.
Again, he recipe is good and consistent. My only issues is the lack of retention of the tomatoes. Im guessing the tomato prevents it from adhering to the dough. The picture shows to press the halves skin side down. I could press it skin side up. Maybe the retention would be better, but my initial thoughts would be, 1) may make the bread a little soggy in the areas contacting the tomato. 2) when pressing the tomatoes ( skin side up), it my squish the tomatoes causing it to lose its shape and the pulp & juices flowing all over the surface of the uncooked bread.
Your thoughts ?
Anyway, to get to the question, I have been making a Focaccia for several years. Everything about the recipe is simple , and the end product always comes out tasting great ( I've made it a half dozen times or so, and it consistently tastes good). The issue I have is the tomatoes which are pressed into the dough, dont really adhere to the dough once baked. Every time you cut the bread up, the tomato half pieces fall right off. I was wondering if there is any way to have he tomatoes more embedded in the dough, so they become part of the bread, and not just something sitting on top that will fall off easily.
The final steps of the process before baking are as followed:
- Place rolled dough into lightly greased pan ( I put a layer of parchment on the bottom to make sure it comes out easily, which it does).
- Allow to rise for 20 minutes ( This is a second rise, the first was as a ball of dough)
- Poke holes in the dough wall the way down through the dough to the pan with fingers or back of spoon ( I used a wooden spoon).
- Press half tomato pieces into the dough
- Sprinkle with herbs/ spices ( I used oregano and rosemary).
- Sprinkle with a flaky salt
- Bake accordingly ( I dont have he recipe in hand, so not sure of temp).
- After baking, take out and let cool on rack.
Again, he recipe is good and consistent. My only issues is the lack of retention of the tomatoes. Im guessing the tomato prevents it from adhering to the dough. The picture shows to press the halves skin side down. I could press it skin side up. Maybe the retention would be better, but my initial thoughts would be, 1) may make the bread a little soggy in the areas contacting the tomato. 2) when pressing the tomatoes ( skin side up), it my squish the tomatoes causing it to lose its shape and the pulp & juices flowing all over the surface of the uncooked bread.
Your thoughts ?