rosemary focaccia...

Focaccia is my favorite bread for making sandwiches. It has a dense, chewy and crusty texture that offers such a great combination with meats. I used to think that only soft spongy bread should be use for sandwish. But guess what, I don't agree with that anymore. Don't laugh at me, you need to understand about my background. I grew up in Asia where people tend to like soft bread more than firm bread.

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I adapt the recipe and procedure from The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Reinhart. The way I make this focaccia is the the way I've learned from my baking school.

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Ingredients

make one 17"x12"

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for herb oil

- 1/2 cup olive oil

- 1/4 cup fresh rosemary, chopped

- 1/4 tb. kosher salt

- 1/4 ts. coarsely ground black pepper

- 1/4 tb. clove garlic, sliced
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for rosemary focaccia

- 4 ts. active dried yeast

- 2 cups water, 90 degrees F

- 5 cups bread flour

- 6 tb. extra virgin olive oil

- 2 ts. salt

- 1/4 cup herb oil

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for aioli

- 2 clove garlics, minced

- 1 egg yolk

- 2 ts. fresh lemon juice

- 1/2 ts. Dijon mustard

- 1/4 cup herb oil

- 3 tb. vegetable oil

- 1/4 ts. sugar

- pinch of salt

- pinch of black pepper

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for grilled salmon fennel

- 1 salmon fillet

- 1/2 fennel bulb, cut into 1/4" thick

- 1/8 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

- 3/4 ts. fennel seed, toasted and crushed

- 1 tb. fennel frond, chopped

- 1 tb. shallot, minced

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Procedures

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for herb oil
1. Heat the oil to 100 degrees F.
2. Add the rest of ingredients.
3. Cover to infuse the flavor.
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for focaccia

1. Activate yeast with water in a mixing bowl, let it stand for 5 minutes.

2 Add 1/3 of flour, mix with spatula until smooth. Cover and analyse for 20 minutes.

3. Add oil and salt. Mix them up.

4. Add the rest of flour, fish tail on the bench for 3 minutes.

5. Put the dough into a pan, coat both side of the dough with olive oil.

6. Cover with plastic wrap, let it rest for 30 minutes.

7. Stretch the dough out with fingers and ferment for 3 hrs. De-gas once after 90 minutes.

8. Fold before refrigerate overnight.

9. Remove from the refrigerator and let the dough temper for 1 hr. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

10. Cover the dough with half of herb oil (discard the garlic), use fingertips to dimple and spread it to fill the pan. Place some fresh rosemary over.

11. Proof the dough until double in size.

12. Lower the oven to 400 degrees F, bake for 10 minutes. Rotate and continue baking for 10 more minutes. The internal temperature should be 200 degrees F.

13. Remove from the oven, allow it to cool down before cutting.

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for aioli

1. Whisk together yolk, lemon juice and Dijon mustard in a bowl.

2. Combine oils, whisk into the yolk mixture in thin stream.

3. Whisk in garlic, sugar, salt and pepper.

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for grilled salmon fennel

1. Mix butter, fennel seed, fennel frond and shallot together. Set aside.
2. Heat half of butter mixture on medium heat, stir in sliced fennel bulb. Cook until caramelized and set aside.
3. Grill salmon with the rest of the butter.
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Assembly:
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1. Arrange focaccia as a base, spread aioli over.
2. Top with spinach, grilled salmon, caramelized fennel, fresh mozzarella and spinach.
3. Place focaccia that spread with ailoli over.