Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Whole Wheat Jalapeno Focaccia

There are very few people who are not fond of pizza. I am one of them. I did like it when I used to eat cheese, but not now. But, the kids ask to go to a pizza place almost every week and we do take them to Bertucci's once in a  while. When we go there, we have a standard order. A personal pizza for kids which is just cheese pizza and another personal pizza for myself and my husband which is cheese less pizza with lot of veggies. And first couple of times, I used to ask for Jalapeno peppers as toppings and the waitress would tell me that they don't have it. That is when I realized that Italian restaurants do not have jalapeno as one of the pizza toppings. So, I made my own favorite flat bread. I actually started with the no knead focaccia recipe. But, I decided to use whole wheat flour completely. When I did use gluten and the whole wheat flour, I knew it won't have a nice texture if I don't knead it. So, I kneaded it briefly and went on with the recipe. Result was an amazingly soft and fluffy focaccia that is completely made with whole wheat flour and has no added sugar in it.

One Year Back - Mango BreadBread Machine, Do I need it?
Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Flour - 3 cups
Vital Wheat Gluten - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Warm Water - 1 1/2 cups
Instant yeast - 1 TBSP
Cilantro - Chopped 1/4 cup
Jalapeno - Drained and chopped 3 TBSP or more as per taste divided use (You could use fresh Jalapeno pepper about 2)
Olive oil - 3 TBSP plus more for the pan and topping
Coarse sea salt - for topping (optional)

Method:
In a bowl, take warm water. Add olive oil, salt, yeast, flour and gluten. Mix it with a wooden spoon. When you can no longer mix with the spoon, use your hands to mix it and start kneading it. This is a bit tacky dough. Don't be tempted to use more flour. It is alright if it is sticking to your fingers. Add half of the jalapeno peppers and the entire chopped cilantro. Knead it for about 5 minutes.
Grease a 13 X 9 pan with little bit of olive oil. Take the kneaded dough and pat it into the pan spreading to cover the complete pan. Oil your hands while doing so. When done, sprinkle the remaining jalapeno pepper pieces and press it to the dough gently. Dimple the dough and top with some olive oil. You can go heavy on olive oil or light. Cover with an oiled aluminum foil and let it rise for 1 hour or till the dough is all bubbly and double in volume. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375 F. If using, sprinkle the sea salt. Bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until golden on the top. Remove and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn it on to the wire rack and cool completely before slicing.
This one goes to Yeastspotting.


Enjoy.

20 comments:

  1. Beautiful! Looks very delicious. Maybe if I tried hard I could get a few pieces into my plate?:)

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  2. wow! A whole wheat focaccia is great, looks real good! Why is this 1 tbsp yeast here(as there is no sugar?), more gluten too?

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  3. Suma,
    I started with the recipe which has only APF. Used same amount of liquid and more gluten (just 1 TBSP more) to get a better texture. Since this is meant to be quick one and there is no second kneading and second rise, there is more yeast.

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  4. Jalapeno focaccia looks great. Nice pics.

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  5. The foccasia looks yumm.. Perfect slices too..

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  6. jalapeno Focaccia looks yum!!....and they only carry crushed pepper no hot sauce...I used to make the same jalapeno mistake! :) I love bertucci for their bread rols!
    Smitha
    Smitha's Spicy Flavors

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  7. It looks so good. I am such a big fan of focaccia, love it.

    Missing your friday baking roundups :(

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  8. lovely bread. Gonna bake this by the weekend :).Can I use red chilli flakes instead of Jalapeno?

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  9. sumi,
    Yes. You can use red chilli flakes or even green chillies for that matter. If you like garlic, you could add couple of cloves chopped into the dough.

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  10. The Focassia looks very inviting.Nice recipe will give a try.

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  11. Looks great..as I said I love Focaccia!

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  12. Good one..what if I use the active dry yeast instant of instant yeast? Does the procedure change?

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  13. Harini,
    You could use active dry yeast. In that case, proof it by putting it to the warm water and start mixing the rest of the ingredients after it froths. It will also increase the rise time from 1 hour to probably 1 hour and 30 minutes. Rest is the same.

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  14. I have never made focaccia before. Looks yummy and healthy of course. Bookmarked.

    Vardhini
    VardhinisKitchen

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  15. Focaccia looks so fluffy and delicious. Love the use of ww flour, will have to give this a try.

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  16. I've been thinking of trying a focaccia. This looks great and matches my needs for whole grains.
    Thanks for the post.

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  17. Champa, again, this may need more water depending on the kind of whole wheat? If needed, it should be OK to add more water, which should be OK for a focaccia as long as the dough is tacky?

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  18. Suma, yes. adding a bit more water should be fine to get the proper consistency.

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  19. Great post! Will definitely give it a try. Thanks for the info!

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