HOME COOKING CHRONICLES
FocacCia
is the new
sourdough
BY BRIAN MEDFORD
When the world started hunkering
down last year, there was a resurgence of
home baking because there was nowhere
else to go but home. The pandemic has
been hard and I am still troubled at all
we’ve lost. To sustain my mental health,
I try to be thankful for three things every
day.
I’m thankful people are cooking at
home, rediscovering gardening, chan-
neling Chip and Joanna Gaines, and put-
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ting together puzzles. One thing I am not
thankful for … the sourdough bread craze.
It sounds ludicrous that carbohydrate’s
biggest fan (me) would begrudge a bur-
geoning interest in home baking. But sour-
dough is too much pressure. Being fas-
tened to developing a starter, feedings,
watching for bubbles, managing tempera-
tures and smelling for pungent fl avors
is too much. What was I doing instead?
Probably watching “Tiger King” and that
was enough drama in my life.
While the fear of sourdough commit-
ment may say more about me than I’d like
to publicly admit, I usually embrace high
maintenance baked goods. I once brought
a croissant dough with me to a dinner
party to complete the three required turns.
I excused myself from the table and dis-
appeared to the kitchen, to reappear with a
I PREFER NON-COMMITTAL
BREAD. MY FAVORITE
HOME BREAD PROJECT IS
FOCACCIA. IT TAKES JUST
A FEW HANDS-ON STEPS,
PROOFS IN THE FRIDGE
OVERNIGHT AND BAKES
THE NEXT DAY.
light dusting of fl our on my clothes.
I prefer non-committal bread. My
favorite home bread project is focaccia.
It takes just a few hands-on steps, proofs
in the fridge overnight and bakes the next
day.
Sourdough makers, I love you. But at
my house, be prepared for focaccia and
an ever-growing layer of fl our on me as I
mysteriously vanish into the kitchen at a
regular cadence.
Brian Medford
Author Brian Medford isn’t a fan of the ‘sourdough craze’ and instead prefers focaccia bread.
Focaccia bread
(adapted from Bon Appétit)
Ingredients
• 3 cups bread fl our
• 1 ⅛ teaspoons active dry yeast
• A pinch of sugar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt (I like
Diamond Crystal)
• 4 to 6 tablespoons extra virgin
olive oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon fl aky salt
Preparation
Combine the fl our and 1 ¼ cups
room-temperature water in the bowl
of a stand mixer fi tted with a dough
hook. Mix on low speed, scraping
down the sides to incorporate any dry
fl our, until a shaggy dough forms. Let
rest.
Stir yeast, sugar, and ¼ cup of
barely-warm water with a fork in a
small bowl to dissolve. Let sit until
the yeast is foamy.
Pour the yeast mixture into the
stand mixer bowl and mix on the low-
est speed until the dough absorbs the
water. Add kosher salt. Continue to
mix, increasing the speed to medium,
until the dough is extremely elastic
and sticky, about fi ve minutes.
Pour 2 tablespoons oil into a
medium bowl and coat the sides.
Scrape the dough into the bowl.
Cover and place in a warm spot until
the dough doubles in size, about two
hours.
Rub 2 tablespoons oil on the bot-
tom and sides of a 9 by 13 inch sheet
pan. Using a spatula, fold dough
inside the bowl to defl ate, then scrape
onto the sheet pan. Lift up the dough
and fold over onto itself in half, then
rotate the sheet pan 90 degrees and
fold in half again. Cover the dough
with a piece of oiled plastic wrap and
rest 15 minutes.
Uncover the dough and gently
stretch the dough across length and
width of the sheet pan, working all the
way to edges and into corners. If the
dough springs back, let it rest for 5 to
10 minutes and try again. Cover with
oiled plastic wrap and place in the
fridge for eight hours, up to 24 hours.
Remove the sheet pan from the
fridge and let sit in a warm spot until
the dough is puff ed and bubbly and
nearly doubled in height, about an
hour.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Fahrenheit.
Remove the plastic and drizzle
the dough generously with more oil.
Press fi ngertips fi rmly into the dough
to dimple all over. Sprinkle with fl aky
salt.
Bake on the middle rack until sur-
face is deep golden brown, 24 to 30
minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10
minutes. Slide a metal spatula under-
neath the focaccia. Transfer to a wire
rack and cool.
Brian Medford is the owner of
Idlewild Biscuits and Bakes in Asto-
ria. He teaches cooking classes at
The Pantry in Seattle. Contact him at
blmedford@gmail.com.