February 10th - Onion and Poppy Seed Focaccia

No time to chat today.  Brian and I are heading into the city to see August: Osage County.  (We got some cheap seats).  I'm running behind today as it is.  THANKS STUPID SNOW!

THE RECIPE

Ingredients:
Olive Oil: Had
Onions: $1.19
Frozen Bread Dough: $3.99
Parmesan Cheese:  Had
Poppy Seeds:  Had

Total: $5.18

First off... Good luck finding refrigerated French bread dough.  I searched 3 grocery stores and the closest thing I could find in the refridgerated section was Pillsbury crescent rolls.  I decided to change tactics and look in the frozen section.  Sure enough I found some frozen whole wheat bread dough there.  They only had one kind and the ingredients on the back horrified me.  Partially hydrogenated oils, enriched wheat flour, and high fructose corn syrup...oh my!    I should have just made my own bread dough, but I wanted to stay as true to the recipe as possible.  

Second off.. This recipe is crunked up.  After you roll out the dough and put it on the oiled sheet tray, make sure you let the dough rise again before putting it in the oven.  (Traditionally when you make bread, you let the dough rise at least two times).  This recipe does not tell you this.  If you just put the bread in the oven without letting it rise again, you won't get a nice fluffy focaccia.  I know they're trying to make this recipe fast, but don't skip this step.

THE RESULTS

Fast:  Yes, but it shouldn't be.  Snobby Chef Rule #221:  DO NOT RUSH BREAD!  (The only exception to this rule is during Thanksgiving when you thaw and bake the traditional "brown and serve" rolls.

Easy: Yes...but honestly, you're just putting lipstick on a pig with this one.  If you get an awful bread dough, ain't no amount of onions and poppy seeds going to save it.

Fresh: Yes, but could be fresher with some fresh rosemary, basil, or thyme.

Overall:  This recipe sucks.  I attribute it to the bread dough that I bought.  Maybe if I found the refridgerated French bread dough, it would have been better?  Plus poppy seeds?  Really?  They don't have that much flavor! 

Truely there is nothing better then bread made from scratch.  Yeah, it's a long process, but in the end it is really easy (especially if you have a Kitchen aid mixer with the dough hook attachment).  The best bread book ever is called "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" by Peter Reinhart.   I highly recommend it. 

Check out this and other books at your local library!