Fougasse

Herbed breads of different textures are picking up in my family as a popular item. Focaccia is one bread I make very often, especially when there is pasta or even pizza planned, as little one does not eat either pizza or pasta. So he usually settles with freshly baked bread with garlic mayo.

As part of the study for mega marathon , I searched for many recipes of Focaccia which I wanted to originally make today. I landed on the fougasse recipe from France (F from F) , so jumped upon this recipe.

The bread goes perfectly well with a bowl of soup which I cooked along with this. I followed the recipe to T as I did not want to have any excuse for the outcome. 

I must admit, that I had no major hopes on the taste because there was no sugar in the bread, I expected it to be very bland. But this bread surprised me to no bounds. It is the read for the mature minds...as kids I never liked the crust of any bread. My granny and my mother always ate bhakri made of jowar or rice flour which is a dry bread with no fats in it. I always wondered what made them trade the soft luscious chapatis for these dry forms of flat breads- at times also a day old stale - purposely stocked to be enjoyed next day.

This bread with a chewy dry feel reminded me of the above incident - I ate this late in the  evening with the soup. Sitting by the window late night while working on something on the computer...cold breeze aside this bread took the credit for the sudden calmness I felt on an otherwise end of a hectic day at work. 

Ingredients (Recipe adapted from here )
3 cups Strong bread flour/ APF
1/4 cup Whole wheat flour
1 tspn instant yeast
1 1/2 cups of water (warm 110c)
1/4 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1-2 tbsp semolina flour + whole wheat flour to sprinkle
1 tspn of salt
1 tspn of mixed dried herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano) 
1/2 tspn black pepper 
2 tspn coarse sea salt 

Method
1) In a large basin , ad warm water and to it add yeast. Let it stand for a minute to let it bloom
2) To this add 1 cup of flour and mix using a fork. 
3) Add the salt to the mixture and mix well
4) Gradually add the rest of the bread flour. Add to it the dried herbs, black pepper and mix it again. 
5) Add the olive oil to the flour and start the kneading the dough. Use the whole wheat flour as needed to make a manageable yet sticky dough. 
6) Let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour or until the dough doubles in volume.
7) Now on a flat surface sprinkle equal quantities of semolina and whole wheat flour 
8) Cut the dough into 2 halves. Take one of the ball of dough and start flattening it by pulling it out into roughly a triangular shape - like Indian Naan bread.
9) Start flattening it to the thickness of a naan bread
10) Let it rise for another 10 minutes.
11) Sprinkle some semolina and wheat flour mixture on top
12) Make leaf shaped splits and widen the splits to make a visible hole . 
13) Now in a preheated oven at 225c, bake the bread for 15-18 min. While placing the bread, sprinkle some water on the oven base or door to create some steam

Enjoy the bread warm or stale....