No Knead Rosemary and Thyme Focaccia

My friend, airline pilot David from the UK (Fine Dining at Home) recently posted a recipe for no knead focaccia, and I was immediately smitten (with the recipe, of course!) We’ve been making no knead bread for ever (here, here and here) and no knead pizza dough (here) but we’ve never made no knead focaccia. My focaccias have been traditional recipes that make a sponge first and then a separate dough, time consuming and complicated, albeit delicious. So when I read David’s recipe and saw the quality of his sponge and crumb (he kindly emailed me a photo) I was intrigued. Fast forward and we’re at the cottage waiting for friends to arrive and JT says “do we have a starch with dinner tonight?” OK, you must be able to read my mind by now, because I did go over the menu with him and at NO TIME did he ask that question whilst we were in the city with all the grocery stores. Please recall that we have limited resources once we leave the city. But I do stock my cottage pantry with flour and yeast so I immediately thought of dear David’s No Knead Focaccia recipe but sadly I did not have a scale and I only had All Purpose flour and 1 packet yeast, so I used King Arthur Flour’s recipe with some minor alterations. I am very pleased with the result and I urge you to try it, it’s actually quite lovely.

Makes one slab about 8″x12″
Please click here for original recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water
• 1/4 cup olive oil (plus additional for drizzling)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 3 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tbsp instant yeast
• 1 tbsp milk powder
• 2 tbsp each, finely chopped rosemary and thyme

Directions:

1. Spray a 9″ x 13″ pan with cooking spray or EVOO and drizzle an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of EVOO on the bottom.
2. Combine all of the ingredients and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon until entirely combined. The dough should appear loose and shaggy.
3. Allow to rest in a warm dark place for about an hour or until doubled in size.
4. When doubled, pour the dough into your prepared pan and spread it out as evenly as you can. Let rest 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 375°F. After dough has rested, bake for 30 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool slightly before slicing into it.

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Puffed Quinoa Bar revisted

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving everyone! We have so much to be thankful for! We’ve spent the weekend at my brother’s cottage up in the Muskoka’s and it was lovely even if the weather was not. Over the years we’ve had so many different experiences, from shorts n’T boat rides, to chilly walks in the country to snow flurries! Yes indeed, snow flurries. In October! This year there wasn’t snow but it was rainy and chilly, perfect for staying inside by a roaring wood fire and perhaps baking a thing or two!

When I first made these bars I wasn’t able to source puffed quinoa, even-so the original bar was tasty and full of texture. Since that first time, I have been able to source puffed quinoa as well I’ve made some other adjustments to the recipe: I replaced brown sugar with coconut sugar and have omitted the chocolate chips adding vanilla extract instead. Also, I added egg whites as the binder so it’s not as crumbly as the first go round. If you’re so inclined, you can dip one half into good quality dark chocolate.

These are crunchy bars.

Puffed Quinoa Bars

Makes 1  33 cm x 23 cm (9″ x 13″) pan of bars about 1 cm or 1/2″ thick.

Ingredients:

• 60 g (2 cups) commercially puffed quinoa (like puffed rice)
• 140 g (1 cup) unsalted sunflower seeds, slightly roasted in a frying pan
• 180 g (2 cups) uncooked oatmeal, old-fashioned or instant
• 45 g (1/4 cup) partly ground flax seeds
• 60 g (1/2 cup) dried cranberries or other dried fruit
• 120 g (1/2 cup) coconut sugar
• 125 mL (1/2 cup) agave syrup or honey
• 30 mL (2 tbsp) molasses
• 60 mL (4 tbsp) egg whites
• 15 mL (1 tbsp) vanilla
• 63 mL (1/4 cup) water
• 2 mL (1/2 tsp) salt

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350° F (177° C ).
2. Prepare a 33 cm x 23 cm (9″ x 13″) pan by lining it with parchment paper, enough to have the sides come up as handles.
3. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine wet ingredients and whisk thoroughly to combine.
4. Pour into the dry ingredients into the wet and mix well (I used a very large bowl with a wooden spoon). You want to make sure that everything is coated with the wet ingredients.
5. Pour the combined ingredients into the prepared pan and press evenly into all corners (I used a glass as a rolling pin). Bake for about 20 minutes.
6. Carefully remove from the pan with the parchment handles onto a cutting board and cut into 20 bars. Place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and continue to bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned. I wanted a crunchy bar and not a soft chewy one, if you would prefer a soft chewy bar, skip this bake step.
7. Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.

Notes:

Depending on how dry your house is, you may need to adjust the wet ingredients as the final product can be a bit crumbly.

A delicately flavoured energy bar.

1 bar serving (recipe makes 20 Bars)

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Watermelon, Avocado and Feta Salad

For a luncheon one weekend at the cottage, I served the Empanadas because I wanted something reasonably fast as we were leaving to get back to the city. While the Empanadas were warming in the oven, I put this simple, yet tasty salad together. The salad really should have been entitled The Kitchen Sink Salad because in all honesty I was just trying to use up some ingredients we had left on our cottage weekend. It’s a delightful combination of salty, sweet and peppery. If you don’t like feta, add some crispy fried bacon. But don’t leave out the watermelon or avocado!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cubed watermelon
• 2 ounces feta
• 1 avocado, cubed
• a handful or two of arugula and spinach mix
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
• t tsp Dijon mustard

Directions:

1. Combine all of the ingredients to the arugula mix.
2. In a small glass jar, combine the olive oil, white balsamic vinegar and Dijon and shake vigorously to combine.
3. Toss salad just before serving.

 

A really tasty lunch.

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