Focaccia with caramelized onions and parmesan cheese
Woo hoo time for another weekly installment of “As the Bread Proofs” (please read that sentence using your best cheesy soap opera monologue guy voice)….
Without fail we had to make focaccia on the freaking hottest day of the year. Since we are two foodies trapped in a kitchen we decided it would be a great idea to caramelize some onions (cipoolini, sweet red Italian, white, shallot, spring onions and then my favorite garlic which is a Romanian red) to top the focaccia and hell why not can 12 jars of pickles all while waiting for the oven to come up to a sweltering 500 degrees. This made the kitchen a wonderfully cool and refreshing 95 degrees.
However, it was well worth the insane heat and once the focaccia was out of the oven we damn near burned our mouths and hands tearing into it. Definitely a bread we will be making again especially as the garden starts to produce more (looking at you Mr. Tomato).
The actual assembly of the bread it was pretty straight forward and yes this is another one of Peter Reinhart’s famous two days to make bread. Unlike most of the breads this one actually had most of the work being done on the first day (most of the time the first day is just throw this stuff together till it resembles pancake batter and let it sit on the counter). This one we were beating, kneading, proofing, folding, and shaping fools on day one. The second day was the simple day which was just bring out of fridge let it double, top, and shove in oven.
Oh yeah besides topping with the caramelized onions we also grated a large amount of Parmesan cheese and threw that on the focaccia during the last five minutes of baking.
If you are curious the tomato “salsa” is nothing more than tomato, olive oil, sweet pepper, clove of garlic, thyme, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.
If you are interested in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge our fearless host is Nicole at Pinch My Salt and you can read more about it clicking here.
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nice! lots of stuff on the top, just the way it should be. yeah and I lvoe when I want to bake something on the hottest day of the year. I must be missing brain cells that day.
The focaccia looks wonderful, and worth both days’ wait!
Stellar..just a wonderful bread. I love a good focaccia and this is better than I’ve seen!
I could go for a slab of that bread with a nice glass of wine. Looks perfect to me!
You have become quite the expert baker! I’m all about trying this one. I call this the carb summer of 09
OMG, you guys sound like us….yeah lets can all day & not turn on the AC!
You had me at Focaccia, lol. That is perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing! Yum.
Yum, what a gorgeous looking focaccia!
Great call to serve it with the tomato salsa, just perfect.
Nobody will think you are odd if you bake in your trunks.
Definitely support bread in all forms! Add cheese, and we’re in like Flynn. Baking in the summer is rough though. But worth it.
Your focaccia looks really good and so does the tomato salsa.
YUM! Can’t wait to make this.
first of all, that salsa looks scrumptious. that’s not the point of the post, though, so i must also comment on the delightful bread. caramelized onions are addictive to me, and i’m sure they make the (nicely executed) foccacia even better!
Gimme some!
Oooh that looks so soft nad spongy-just the way I like foccacia! I look forward to the next instalment of “As the Bread Proofs”!
Mmmmmm that looks soooo good! Can’t wait to get this far in the challenge!
I LOVE foccacia and this one looks fantastic. Great looking pic too. It IS better than most that i’ve seen.
Awesome skills!
This picture stopped me dead in my tracks. This totally looks like something I would see in a Napa restaurant…totally fresh! You are killing me with all your bread making these days! I have wanted to try focaccia but my bread skills arent that great. Think I could make this with olives? yum!
Couldn’t be more pretty than this Jeff. Sound delicious!
Mmmm…looks so tasty! Bread is always the best, hot out of the oven. =) Your tomato spread looks really good too!!
I love a good foccacio & yours looks so tasty!!
MMMMMM,… Could émail me the recipe from the cranberry & nut bread?? You promised!
You two are just on fire in the kitchen together! You make a great team! I’ve never made foccacia, I’d like to make it into pizza. Yours looks fantastic !!! Al those onions and the cheese!!! Oh my word!
I am sure we are all quite content now that it is a little cooler…at least for now. Let the baking begin!
Jeff, I am wondering if you forgot the final, yet important step, cooling. It is the step that I have the most difficulty with. I will be making this one again, with the AC on.
That looks delicious! I especially love the salsa - fresh tomatoes are so tasty.
You are truly a dedicated baker to be baking on the hottest day. Your results are outstanding. Can’t wait to see your gardening skills when those tomatoes come off the vine.
You are hilarious!!! Just discovered you via Tastespotting (the nutella coffee cherry ice cream caught my eye!)
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I’ve never seen a focaccia quite like that with the caramelized onions. It looks awesome. Great pic!