Dear Mr. Ex Girlfrind,
Hi, how are you? I don’t quite understand asking questions in a letter, but oh, well. I hope you are doing great. We have never met before, so you may be wondering why I am writing you this letter. Well, as it turns out, your daughter (was) is absolutely one of my most favorite people ever, in the world, even. And you are one of her favorite people in the world, ever.
In any case, she is out in Pennsylvania visiting you and has been sending me little updates. She told me that you started growing grapes in your garden this year and even sent me a photo. She also sent me a great picture of your new scooter it’s really sweet!
[caption id="attachment_174" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="nellie sent me this photo of her dad's garden. love it!"]
[/caption]Well, it just so happens that yesterday I went to the farmers’ market here in Silver Lake and was smitten with some grapes there. It happens sometimes, I fall in love with a beautiful piece of produce and will spend my last dime to take it home with me, if needs be. The grape in question was a very dark purple grape, black almost, perfect globes, super sweet and conveniently: seedless! I wish I had written down what variety they were because I did actually forget somewhere throughout the day.
I was shopping at the market for a work thing, you see, I am a chef, and sometimes I do parties with my partners in crime for a little venture we call On The Lamb, food & beverage. Last night we did an event dedicated to Puglia or Apulia. It’s a region in the southerly part of Italy that is really into simple flavors and using whatever is in season in simple albeit interesting combinations. For the Pugliese, it’s all about letting the integrity and natural flavors of the produce shine.
When I tasted the grapes, I fell in love immediately. They were sweet and juicy, a rich bruise shade of dark purple in a perfect globe. I bought two bunches and rushed home to make up this focaccia recipe. I love salty pretzels and I love mixing sweet and savory flavors. I wanted the best of both worlds, so I made a simple focaccia. It was fluffy and chewy all at once, sweet and salty, good and good.
I used an olive oil made with one of Apulia’s olive oils, a frantoia olive oil: it’s fruity and spicy. Whitney paired it with a pale glass of lightly sparkling Prosecco wine and it was fantastic.
I was incredibly pleased with how the bread turned out and when Nellie sent me a picture of your grapes and boasted about how great your garden is producing this year, I thought you would appreciate this recipe. It is definitely going to work best with a darker, sweeter variety of grape, so the native Concords you are growing should work just perfectly.
I hope you enjoy it! I know I did.
Take good care,
Yours truly,
Rachel~*
[caption id="attachment_177" align="aligncenter" width="336" caption="pennsylvania concords"]
[/caption]grape & rosemary focaccia
ingredients:
grape & rosemary focaccia
ingredients:
2 cups hot water 105-115° F
2tsp active yeast
4-4 ½ cups AP unbleached flour
2 Tbsp good olive oil, spicy & grassy flavors preferred!
1 small sprig or 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 handful or 1 cup dark purple grapes, cut in half
Good flaky sea salt or coarse pretzel salt
¼ cup + extra virgin olive oil
how to make it:
the dough:
-mix together yeast and warm water and allow to sit until it turns foamy, this means it Alive!
-using your fingers, work the olive oil into the flour and stir in the chopped rosemary
-form a well in the bottom of the flour, add the yeast & water, make sure to use a spatula to get all of the bits of yeast that try to stick to the measuring cup.
-using either your hand, or a mixer at low to medium low speed (do not whisk, messy business) to gradually incorporate water into flour to avoid lumps.
-meanwhile, add salt with about half of the flour is absorbed by sprinkling evenly over the surface of the dough.
-once all is combined, use a dough hook or continue stirring in a slight kneading fashion for a about 1-2 minutes to build a little gluten. The dough should be fairly wet.
-oil a large glass or ceramic mixing bowl with olive oil and put in dough, cover with plastic wrap or drape a damp towel over the top. Put bowl in a warm, draft free spot away from the sun.
-leave to double in size at least, about 1 ½ hours.
-remove cover and press down dough. Knead for about a minute. Grab your cookie sheet & coat the bottom with olive oil, lightly & evenly.
-form a rectangle with the dough in the center of the cookie sheet, fold it into a letter fold, then replace it to the center of the sheet tray. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Place in a warm, dark place with no draft. (I used the empty dishwasher, it held the cookie sheet just fine)
-allow to rise a second time for about 25-45 minutes
-meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425°F
[caption id="attachment_178" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="grapes so dark they look like olives!"]
[/caption]the bread:
-remove plastic and stretch the dough to reach the corners. Drizzle a tablespoon or two of olive oil over the top, use the tips of your fingers to make indentations on the dough.
-scatter grapes over the surface, as little or as much as you like, and lightly press them into the surface of the dough. Sprinkle flaked salt or pretzel salt evenly over the surface, again, as little or as much as you like.
-place in oven and bake until golden all over & evenly across the bottom, about 25-30 minutes. rotate once throughout baking time, around 15 minutes through.
-if you like a moist focaccia, which I do, drizzle about 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil evenly over the top of the bread as it comes out of the oven so it will absorb it. You can also leave it dry and serve it with olive oil on the side. Even just a quick drizzle with go great. Spread the oil around with a pastry or basting brush, if you’ve got it.
-cut and serve. It is delicious. I am sure you will find many many ways to serve it!
[caption id="attachment_179" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="i love how the purple of the grape runs into the bread. so pretty."]
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