Olive and Herbes de Provence Focaccia

During my teen years our family spent a summer vacation in my parent's home town of Bari Italy.

Getting acquainted with grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles that we had never met before was exciting and at times very interesting.  My sister and I spent most of that summer at the home of an aunt and uncle who made our stay very enjoyable.  I have so many wonderful memories of the time spent there but vividly remember and cherish one in particular.

On his way to work my uncle would drop in to the neighborhood bakery to order a freshly baked focaccia for us which was later delivered to the house by a young boy on a bicycle.  Still warm from the oven the aroma of bread, tomato, oregano and olive oil still remains fresh on my mind.  We quickly got used to this royal treatment and looked forward to that early morning delivery for the entire length of our stay.

I make several kinds of focaccia, each special in their own way.  The individual focaccia made with my favourite pizza dough recipe is delicious.

Then there's the recipe I have adapted to my grandmother’s heirloom focaccia pan which gives it a very unique crisp crust, by far my favourite.  The French Fougasse with its interesting shape and chewy texture is truly enjoyable and a taste experience that shouldn’t be missed.

This recipe for Olive Focaccia calls for milk as part of the required liquid giving it a soft tender crumb. It has been in my collection for many years and I’ve made it on numerous occasions following the original recipe.

However, my recent interest in Herbes de Provence, a mixture of herbs commonly used in France has inspired an Italian focaccia with a French twist…a perfect combination!

Olive and Herbes de Provence Focaccia
1 tablespoon dry yeast
½ teaspoon sugar
4 to 4 1/2 cups all- purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
1 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
¼ cup olive oil
2/3 cup coarsely chopped oil cured olives

1. In a large bowl mix together warm water, milk sugar and yeast until yeast dissolves and is bubbly. Stir in the olive oil.
2. Add 2 cups of flour and salt and beat until well mixed.
3. Add 2 more cups of the flour reserving the remaining ½ cup to add only if needed.
4. Add the chopped olives and knead dough for 2 to 3 minutes, place in a bowl and brush olive oil over the top,
5. Cover bowl and allow to rise for 1 hour.
6. Place dough into the center of a 10x15 inch pan.  (approximate size)
7. With hands flatten and stretch dough until it has filled the pan.
8. Brush top with olive oil and sprinkle Herbes de Provence over top and allow to rise uncovered for 15 minutes.
9. Bake in a preheated 400 degree F. for 15 minutes.
10. Reduce heat to 350 degree F. and bake an additional 20 minutes until golden and focaccia springs back when touched.
11. Cool on wire rack and serve at room temperature.

Notes, Tips and Suggestions

• I have just fallen in love with Herbes de Provence, the aromatic mix of herbs is addictive. I purchased some at the bulk food store for mere pennies.  (Just remember to get some before your pennies run out.)
• This makes delicious sandwich bread, just the right amount of bread ready for a delicious filling.
• This focaccia can also be a blank canvas for your favourite toppings.
• If you are not a fan of olives, omit them and add whatever you please. May I suggest sun dried tomatoes?

French Gougere

The ingredients for Gougere are very similar to those for Cream Puffs although differing in the category of sweet and savoury.

If you have ever made Cream Puffs these will be just as easy to make. Even if you have never tried making either recipe, sweet as well as savoury success is easily attainable.

This recipe has been in my “recipes to try out file” for 30 years, the aging page of the magazine it was taken from reads June 1983 .

It usually doesn’t take this long to try out a recipe that I’m interested in but I suppose there is a time and occasion for everything.  This recipe for French Gougere  has been taken out of and gone back into my temporary file many times with the best of intentions to give it it a try. Each time, the recipe has found its way back into the file to wait a little longer.

It has been a long 30 year wait but the day to shine has finally come and I am happy to report that it has finally graduated to a more permanent file.

The addition of Swiss or Jarlsberg cheese and a little salt and pepper takes this choux batter from a delicious, sweet, Cream Puff dessert to a tasty, savoury, Cheese Puff appetizer.

Wonder if the Cream Puff girl would approve...

Gougere
1 cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup water
6 tablespoons butter
4 large eggs
1 cup (4 ounces) Swiss or Jarlsberg cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten for glaze

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Grease and flour or line baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Combine flour, salt, sugar and pepper in a small bowl.
4. Bring water and butter to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat and boil until butter is melted
5. Reduce heat to low and add flour mixture all at once
6. Stir vigorously with wooden spoon until mixture leaves sides of pan and forms a ball.
7. Stir 1 minute to dry the mixture.
8. Remove saucepan from heat and place batter into a medium size bowl.
9. Beat in eggs one at a time beating well after each addition until smooth.
10. Fold in cheese.
11. Drop about 2 tablespoons of batter onto baking sheet and brush tops with beaten egg.
12. Bake 30 minutes until puffed and golden brown.
13. Turn oven off and leave in oven an additional 30 minutes, do not open the oven  (caution... you will be tempted.)
14. Transfer to cool on wire rack.
15. Serve warm or at room temperature.
16. Yield about 25.

 





Notes, Tips and Suggestions

• Use of a small ice cream scoop to spoon out batter makes the job much easier.
• Can be made ahead.  Cool, wrap well and freeze up to 1 month. Unwrap, thaw at room temperature about 1 hour then bake in a 350 degree F. oven 8 to 10 minutes until crisp. 
• Can also be filled with any favourite savoury filling.
• Use of parchment paper will eliminate a lot of cleaning up!

Braided Coffee Cake

Although coffee cakes are not traditionally made with coffee they certainly taste wonderfully delicious accompanied by a good cup of freshly brewed coffee.

Braided Coffeecake has been in my recipe collection for a good number of years just as the recipe for Daisy Coffeecake.  I’m sure it was an intriguing picture that piqued my interest in making it for the first time.  I must have come across the recipe while browsing through someone else's cook book or magazine since my recipe is scribbled on two small index cards.

I haven’t made this in a while and after locating the recipe to make it once again I realized that it was time to give it a fresh look although I’m having a problem letting go of those less than perfectly written, stained recipe cards.

The original recipe includes recipes for apple and cream cheese fillings.  My favourite of the two is the apple filling but at some point in the history of making this coffee cake I experimented with a simple citrus flavoured ricotta filling.

The apple filling remains my favourite but the ricotta filling takes a very close second place.  Although they are are totally different from each other they’re both equally delicious.

In the past week I purchased a container of ricotta not knowing exactly how I might use it.  Having placed it at eye level in the refrigerator I was reminded each time the door was opened that its sweet nutty flavor would not last forever and it was time to decide in which shape or form it would be enjoyed.

Finally captured in the arms of this braided sweet dough… it couldn’t have found a better place!

Braided Coffeecake

Ricotta Filling
450 grams ricotta
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
zest from 1 orange
zest from 1 lemon

1.  Drain excess moisture from ricotta by placing in a small colander for a few hours.
2. Beat ricotta until light and fluffy, beat in egg and sugar. Fold in citrus zest.
3. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Apple Filling
4 cups peeled sliced apples
1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons water
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon

1. Combine apples, lemon juice and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 7 minutes.
3. Mix together flour, sugar and cinnamon and stir into the apples.
4. Cook until mixture thickens stirring constantly.
5. Remove from heat and cool before using.

Cream Cheese Filling
8 ounce package of cream cheese (softened)
1 egg yolk
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/ teaspoon vanilla

1. Beat all ingredients together until well blended and smooth.
2. Place in refrigerator until ready to use.

Dough
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
¼ cup warm milk
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup sugar
1 egg
6 tablespoons butter (softened)
2 to 2 1/2 cups flour
1 egg white beaten with 1 teaspoon water

1. Dissolve yeast in the warm water with 1 teaspoon sugar.
2. In a large bowl beat together egg, salt, sugar, butter and warm milk.
3. Gradually beat in 2 cups flour to make a soft dough.  Add the remaining ½ cup flour as much as needed until a smooth, elastic dough forms.
4. Place in greased bowl and allow to rise for 1 ½ hours.
5. Punch down dough and briefly knead for about a minute.
6. Roll into a 15 by 10 inch rectangle and place on large lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheet.
7. Cut outer sections of rectangle into 10 to 12 diagonal strips leaving the middle part uncut for the filling..
8. Place filling down the center then cross strips over filling alternately until all strips are folded over.
9. Tuck any excess dough under loaf.
10. Brush loaf with beaten egg white and water then let rise uncovered in a warm place for 30 minutes.
11. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F. oven.
12. Cool on rack then lightly sift confectioners’ sugar over top.

 

Notes, Tips and Suggestions

• After dough has risen cut in half and make two smaller braids instead. Check at 20 to 25  minutes if baked.
• This coffee cake freezes well.

French Meringues

Intimidated by the sheer thought of making a meringue it has taken me years to finally give it a try.  Often described in recipes as very easy to make I don’t know why I have put it off for so long.

Choosing a recipe that I was comfortable with was almost as hard as narrowing down a good recipe for the Madeleine Cookies posted a couple of weeks ago.

Even though meringues require only two basic ingredients of egg whites and sugar, various recipes  called for different types of sugar ranging from granulated to superfine to confectioners’.  As in the  Madeleine recipes, oven temperatures and baking times left me uncertain as to which one would give the best results.

I was prepared to give at least two recipes a try but the recipe I chose to use first gave excellent results and there was no need to investigate further.

One of the recipes I chose used granulated sugar and stressed the importance of making sure there was no residual sugar crystals left in the mixture. It didn't take much time to conclude which recipe to try first when I came across one using confectioners’ sugar instead. The dissolving qualities of confectioners' just made it the right choice, no second thoughts. 

While this particular recipe did not call for cream of tartar as some other recipes, it was a good idea to add it for stabilizing the egg whites to ensure good volume.

This recipe instructed to set the oven at 200 degrees F. and place a wooden spoon to keep the oven door ajar while baking.  I wasn’t comfortable with that idea so I lowered the oven temperature to 190 degrees F. instead and left the wooden spoon to its regularly assigned duties. It’s not so much a baking process for meringues but more so a gradual drying out.

Three hours requires some patience so may I suggest you forget they are in the oven and find something else to do.  No need to worry that they might burn or over bake, they honestly don’t need any supervision and just take care of themselves. You may however want to peek into the oven occasionally to admire your handiwork!

Delicate, sweet, light as air, crisp and absolutely adorable…definitely worth the wait!

French Meringues 
I only made half of the recipe since I was not sure how they would turn out and made them a small size, about an inch in diameter yielding about 35 meringues.
The original ingredient amounts are 4 egg whites, 2 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar.

For Half Recipe
2 egg whites  (room temperature)
1 1/8 cups confectioners’ sugar (measure then sift to remove lumps)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1. Butter and flour or line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy using an electric beater.
3. Sprinkle in sugar a little at a time while continuing to whip at medium speed.
4. Stop beating when mixture becomes stiff and shiny like satin.
5. Transfer the mixture into a large pastry bag fitted with a large star or plain tip.
6. Place in preheated 190 degree F. oven and bake for three hours or until the meringues are dry and can be easily lifted from the baking sheet.
7. Allow the meringues to cool completely before storing them in an air tight container at room temperature.

Notes, Tips and Suggestions

• To tint meringues different colours add a few drops of desired food colouring until you achieve the shade of colour you are looking for.
• Rule of thumb for adding cream of tartar is 1/8 teaspoon per egg white.
• Some recipes state that meringues should be eaten within a couple of days of baking and never frozen.  Five days after baking I found them to be as good as the first day.  Also experimented with freezing, no noticeable change but if they can last at least five days why bother freezing.
• If you don't have a 1/8th measuring cup the equivalent is 2 tablespoons or 30 ml.. 
• The next time I make these I will measure out the sugar several days before and add a split vanilla bean for flavour. Don't mix in the seeds unless you are okay with little black specks in your meringues. I'm not going the liquid vanilla route since I don't want to alter the consistency or colour of the egg white mixture.
• No pastry bag? No excuse for not making them.  Just drop the meringue onto baking sheet from a spoon.

Potatoes and Rice

In my younger days while still living at home Potatoes and Rice would usually be on the following weeks’ dinner menu when there was left over meat sauce from Sunday dinner.  Not enough sauce left over for a full pasta meal but just enough to bring together a couple of totally different ingredients into a delicious comforting meal.

I would definitely classify this dish as a comfort food.  Simple, everyday ingredients of rice and potatoes smothered in a delicious meat sauce ranks high on the scale of a very satisfying meal.

It was not until posting this recipe that I wondered how these two unlikely ingredients ended up in the same dish.  I use potatoes or rice interchangeably as side dishes but hardly ever on the same plate since both fall into the starch category. I also wonder why the choice of celery but it seems to be the  ingredient that enhances the overall taste.

I’m not sure if this recipe is exclusive to the region of Puglia, Italy where my mother comes from or if various other regions boast their own version of the same dish.

I am certain that my mother learned to make this dish from her mother as I did from her.  Although I'm curious to know how far back this recipe goes I also wonder if it will survive in the vast world of more trendy recipes.

Whoever originated this recipe most likely did not attend culinary school but relied on culinary instinct to bring a few staple ingredients and a bowl of leftover meat sauce together for a delicious taste experience.

This is not to overlook the fact that it took care of dinner for the day!

Potatoes and Rice
The ingredient amounts listed are not exact and don’t really need to be.  As long as there is enough sauce to mix in and coat the potatoes you are well on your way to success.
The amounts listed below make approximately three to four servings.

5 to 6 medium potatoes (Yukon Gold variety are a good choice)
1 to 2 stalks fresh celery (add in the leaves for stronger flavor)
1 ½ cups tomato meat sauce (approximately)
Salt and pepper to taste
About 1 cup water
1/2 cup uncooked rice 

1. Peel and dice potatoes (about 3/4 inch dice)
2. Cut celery stalks lengthwise into thin strips then finely chop.
3. Place sauce into a saucepan and bring up to a simmer then add potatoes and celery, salt and pepper.
4. Mix everything together until well coated with sauce then add water just enough to cover the potatoes (water will help cook the potatoes and prevent the sauce from thickening too much).
5. Cook on medium low heat until potatoes are fork tender checking periodically for doneness. Addition of a little more water may be necessary if potatoes are not completely cooked and mixture is getting a little dry.
6. Cook about ½ cup of your favourite rice, drain then mix into the potatoes.

 






Notes, Tips and Suggestions

• No leftover tomato meat sauce?  Add a jar of your favourite purchased meat sauce available in most supermarkets.
• If possible use a saucepan that has a larger base.  This helps the potatoes cook more evenly.  If one is not available, give the pot a little stir partway through cooking to ensure that the potatoes cook evenly.
• This is your opportunity to cook a little extra rice and make a delicious frittata!