Tamarind Drink With A Spoonful Of Roasted Peanuts

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Tamarind Drink With A Spoonful Of Roasted Peanuts

Link to my newest and old recipes, click:

https://kitchenbaroness.wordpress.com/

Tart and sweet. This fruit based drink is especially good with spicy food or any time really. 

It's as good as a good lemonade. If asked to choose between the two, I would reach for tamarind. Why? It's easy to buy a good lemonade but a good tamarind drink? Rather difficult. Canned ones are not good so don't waste your calories there. The bottled syrups that are available to me have a metallic taste to it. I stay away from those too.

I can only get my drink fix from this one hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurant. In fact, I always order 2 drinks there, their drip coffee and the tamarind drink. The latter comes with a generous scoop of freshly roasted unsalted peanuts. As strange as it sounds, I can't even begin to tell you what a great combination it is. 

Actually, if one can have a bowl of peanuts with beer then a tamarind drink goes even better with peanuts. It is added straight into your drink so you don't have to soil your fingers picking on those nuts. A convenient long-handled spoon is provided to pop peanuts into mouth. I say that's a very well thought out drink!

TAMARIND DRINK WITH A SPOONFUL OF ROASTED PEANUTS

Prep:	25 minutes
Cook:	25 minutes
Inactive:	~1 hour for syrup to cool down
Level:	Easy but a bit fiddly
Makes:	~ 12 glasses
Oven Temperature:	-
Can recipe be doubled?	Yes
Make ahead?	Yes

Just the ingredients ~ 1 lb (450g) fresh tamarind pods OR ~1 cup of tamarind paste OR  A mix of the above 2 items in any ratio ~ 1 and 3/4 cups or enough sugar to sweeten and thicken into a light syrup ~ 1 cup roasted unsalted peanuts

Ingredients

~ 1 lb (450g) fresh tamarind pods

Fresh fruits are between very sweet or sweet-tart tasting.

OR

~1 cup of tamarind paste

These are partially processed as in most of the fruit's fibre and some seeds have been removed. It is very sour and often sold compressed into a flat rectangle block or bottled in glass or plastic containers. It would be displayed on supermarket shelves. You should find it easily at Asian grocery stores.  I have also seen, though rarely nowadays, tamarind concentrate (where pods, seeds & fibres have been removed) packed in canisters and displayed in supermarket freezers. Read the label. Some have sugar added so reduce the amount of sugar added in that case.

OR 

A mix of the above 2 items in any ratio

~1 and 3/4 cups or enough sugar to sweeten and thicken into a light syrup

~ 1 cup roasted unsalted peanuts to add into each prepared glass of tamarind drink
~ 1 - 2 Tablespoons per glass.

Method

Break the shells of the tamarind pods by pressing in on them. 

Discard shells and any pods that look mouldy, too dry or just plain funky. The ones pictured above are all specimens of good pods.

Discard all the fibrous membrane covering the fruit.

Rinse the tamarind pulp briefly in water without breaking them apart and place in a pot.

If you are using tamarind paste, there is no need to rinse them, take out what you want with a clean spoon and place straight into a pot. Store leftover in the refrigerator. They keep a long time.

Fill the pot with enough water to cover a little above the tamarind (either the fresh ones, the paste or both of each).

Cover pot and bring to boil over high heat. Remove cover, reduce heat to simmer away for 15 - 20 minutes. Turn off burner, remove and cool completely.

With your fingers, remove as much seeds as you can.

Strain through a large-holed sift. Use a large faced spoon to press as much as you can through the sift.

There is still goodness in the solids left in the sift, transfer that into a bowl. Add 1/2 cup of water and mix through. Strain this through the sift as well. Now you can discard the solids left behind in the sift.

Heat the strained tamarind liquid with ~1 and 3/4 cups of sugar to dissolve the sugar. Watch the pot as it will boil over if left unattended. Once it comes to a boil, turn off the burner.

Taste. Adjust sugar amount if necessary. You want it syrupy sweet as you would be diluting with water before serving. You should have 4 cups (1 litre).

Cool completely and store in sterilised jars. 

To serve, dilute with as much cold water as necessary. Add a tablespoon of roasted peanuts, top with ice cubes and serve with a straw and long handled spoon to get to the peanuts.

Tips

Storage: Refrigerate or Freeze

Tamarind syrup keeps a long time in the refrigerator, at least 1 month and even longer in the freezer. I divide it up into smaller glass jars into a serving size of 3 - 4 drinks per jar.  That means I have one jar which I store in the refrigerator so that I can consume it within a week. The other jars are kept in the freezer.

Don't forget to serve the drink with the peanuts and keep a little bowl of them on the side for top ups! 
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When I was in Amsterdam, I so enjoyed this drink which was full of pizzazz! 

Fizzy with a strong bite of ginger, mixed with pineapple juice and a splash of lime. It didn't take me long to sip through the first glass and a second was promptly ordered.

On my return home, I came up with a similar version just so that I can not only sip my way through more than 2 glasses of it but also so that I can have a glass of it whenever I want.  

Strawberry Beetroot Fizz

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Strawberry Beetroot Fizz

Link to my newest and old recipes, click:

https://kitchenbaroness.wordpress.com/

Strawberries and beetroot? Yes! It works very well and this fizzy cooler is one of my most requested drinks. The beetroot intensifies the taste of the strawberries and colours the drink a theatrical red. 

Choose to make this an alcoholic or nonalcoholic cooler. Either way it tastes fabulous but it must be a bubbly liquid that is added. 

With a food processor, this drink takes less than 5 minutes to make. This freezes very well and will keep for months. 

See the bottled ones featured in the picture above? Those went into the freezer but it only stayed frozen for a short time. No one as yet has owned up to drinking it up. My advice? Make a big batch and freeze.

This drink is perfect for slow sipping.
STRAWBERRY BEETROOT FIZZ                                 

Prep:	5 minutes
Cook:	-
Inactive:	-
Level:	Very easy
Makes:
Oven Temperature:	-
Can recipe be doubled?	Yes
Make ahead?	Freezes for 2 months

Just the ingredients 1 lb (450g) frozen strawberries 1 and 1/4 cups unsweetened beetroot juice 1 and 1/2 cups sugar or more to suit your taste Carbonated water  OR Prosecco or similar alcoholic bubbly

Ingredients

1 lb (450g) frozen strawberries

1 and 1/4 cups unsweetened beetroot juice 

Use more or less to suit your taste.

1 and 1/2 cups sugar or more to suit your taste

Carbonated water 
Soda Stream/seltzer/soda water/sparkling mineral water
OR
Prosecco or similar alcoholic bubbly

Method

Combine first 3 ingredients in a food processor and blitz until smooth. There is no need to defrost the strawberries.

If strawberry pips bothers you then strain the liquid, but really, it is not a big deal. Your strawberry jam most likely have pips in them!

Transfer into sterilised jars/bottles, cover and refrigerate or freeze. Alternatively, freeze in ice cube trays and then transfer them into freezer bags.

To make yourself a drink, pour enough cordial into a glass cup and then top only 3/4 full with fizzy liquid of your choice. Stir gently to mix.

Do not fill more than 3/4 full as the bubbles will likely spill over.

Tips

Don't like or can't have strawberries?

If you can't have strawberries, I have a similar drink where a bag of frozen raspberries is used instead. My Frozen Red Raspberry Fizzy was my official 2015 year-end festive beverage. I had to remake that drink many times as people were asking for more! Only drawback with using raspberry is, you have to sieve out the seeds. My advice, make a big, big batch and freeze.

How else can I use the cordial/syrup?

The cordial is wonderful over pancakes, waffles, vanilla ice cream, yogurt lassi and on a spoon, sipped slowly.

What to do with the remaining bottled beetroot juice?

Here is a link to possibly one of the easiest beetroot soups, Cold & Crazy Pink Beetroot Soup. Since bottled beetroot is ready to drink, it is so easy to serve this soup and because of its mad festive colour, it will look great on your year-end dinner party table.
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Another drink but one that you probably have not had before. Tart and sweet. This fruit based drink is especially good with spicy food or any time really. It's a drink I always order at this particular Vietnamese restaurant -Tamarind Drink With A Spoonful Of Peanuts - a definite thirst quencher and you get to fish the peanuts out with a long spoon.

No-bake Intensely Chocolatey Tart

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No-bake Intensely Chocolate Tart

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https://kitchenbaroness.wordpress.com/

It's so insanely chocolatey, I suggest you help yourself to just a small slice.

Nigella Lawson was on late night TV and I was having a case of insomnia brought about by that last cup of Nespresso I just had to have after dinner.

This tart stood out because it was so beautiful. It looked like chocolate madness -a round of satin dark chocolate sitting on an even darker base. It warrant a closer look. I sat up on the bed and shimmied by pyjamaed bottom closer to the google box. Oh yes, the tart looked even better up close. The wonders of high resolution TV.

There and then I decided I had to make this tart and that says a lot because I am not a chocoholic by any stretch. Instead, I would call myself a selective chocolate eater. 

The only chocolate praline I would eat are the Belgian, Leonidas and then again I am very particular and will only eat the gold foil wrapped Gianduja. Leonidas describes them as "delicate and full of chocolate and hazelnut flavour" and how right they are. Is it no wonder that "it has been a Leonidas' signature piece for decades". I digress. Back to the tart.

For her chocolate tart base, Ms Lawson uses a bag of Oreos which I am not keen on. I much prefer the Italian bag of chocolate biscuits, Pan di Stelle. 

Have you tried them? They are awesome. You know how good Nutella is? You do know Nutella is a mix of chocolate and hazelnuts don't you? The Italians got their bag of chocolate cookies right too! And like Nutella, these cookies have hazelnuts in them. 

Imagine Nutella cookies. Pan di Stelle might be the closest 'Nutella-tasting cookie' that is available off supermarket shelves. Nothing beats homebaked full-on chocolate cookies but Pan di Stelle biscuits are perfect for my tart base. Unlike Oreos, there are no cream centres, just plain Nutella-tasting chocolate cookies.

The Pan di Stelle biscuits make such a chocolatey base, I am already thinking of rolling them into truffle balls to be then covered in melted Valrhona chocolate and dusted with cocoa powder. 

With regard to the chocolate filling, I learnt something new from the domestic goddess -eggs are redundant, at least for the filling. Corn flour can set the chocolate filling so nicely you could slice through the tart and the slice will keep its shape as long as you have the ratio of ingredients right.

Nigella reaches for double cream to make her chocolate filling. It's so much easier for me to use a can of evaporated milk and I even use up the entire can so there is no leftover or wastage to deal with. If you are wondering if using that interferes with the taste of the chocolate, the answer is no, not at all. The 70% bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder are the only flavours that will hit your tastebuds. I always use French brand, Valrhona here for the best chocolate flavour. 

Other benefits of evaporated milk over double cream? Cost and a longer shelf life! Should I get caught up with work, I can postpone tart making almost indefinitely whereas those double cream have a relatively short shelf life. The last thing I need is to worry over how I must use the double cream before it expires.

Thanks to my late night cup of Nespresso and Nigella, I have a Nigella-inspired no-bake crazily intense chocolate tart that the die-hard chocoholics I have fed it, as rich as it is, can't get enough of.  

NO-BAKE INTENSELY CHOCOLATEY TART                     

Prep:	25 minutes
Cook:	10 minutes
Inactive:	~ 12 hours to overnight for setting tart
Level:	Moderately easy
Makes:	9"  or 10"  (22.8 cm or 25.4 cm) tart
Oven Temperature:	-
Can recipe be doubled?	No
Make ahead?	Yes, 3 days in advanced

Just the ingredients (12.34oz) (350g) bag of Pan di Stelle OR (12.34oz) (350g) similar chocolatey tasting chocolate biscuits/cookies (2.11oz)(60g) unsalted butter (2.11oz)(60g) 70% bittersweet  chocolate 1/4 teaspoon smoked salt 1 can (13.35oz) (395ml) evaporated milk (divided between base & filling) Tart filling (3.52oz)(100g) 70% bittersweet  chocolate 4 Tablespoons cocoa powder 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder 4 Tablespoons (~1.58oz)(~45g) brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon smoked salt 4 Tablespoons (~1.26oz)(~36g) cornflour

Ingredients

(12.34oz)(350g) bag of Pan di Stelle
Italian crisp chocolate biscuits/cookies made with cocoa and hazelnuts. I bought my bag from a better stocked supermarket.
OR
(12.34oz)(350g) similar chocolatey tasting chocolate biscuits/cookies
If you choose to use Oreos, you need 350g weight without the cream centers.

(2.11oz)(60g) unsalted butter

(2.11oz)(60g) 70% bittersweet chocolate
I use Valrhona. I have used their 60% too and it works just as well. 

1/4 teaspoon smoked salt
Nigella Lawson asked for smoked salt which I happen to have but it makes no real difference so it's fine to use ordinary salt .

3 and 1/2 Tablespoons or enough evaporate milk to bind the biscuit crumbs *

* Remove this amount from the can of evaporated milk.

Tart filling

(3.52oz)(100g) 70% bittersweet dark chocolate
I use Valrhona. I have used their 60% too and it works just as well.

4 Tablespoons cocoa powder

I use Valrhona.

1 teaspoon instant coffee powder

1 can (13.35oz)(395ml) evaporated milk *
~ 3 and 1/2 Tablespoons or so of this would have been used earlier to bind the biscuit crumb base so you would be using what's left in the can for the tart filling.

Cans of evaporated milk come in varying volumes. Should you have any excess, scroll down to 'Tips' to find out how you can use those up.

4 Tablespoons (~1.58oz)(~45g) brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon smoked salt
Nigella Lawson asked for smoked salt which I happen to have but it makes no real difference so it's fine to use ordinary salt .

4 Tablespoons (~1.26oz)(~36g) cornflour

3 and 1/2 Tablespoons evaporated milk
* Remove this amount from the can of evaporated milk. It's to be mixed with the corn flour.

Method

Tart base

You need a 9" (22.8cm) or 10" (25.4cm) loose bottom tart/pie pan.

Melt unsalted butter and chocolate

Microwave: It is easiest to do this in a microwave in progressive bursts of 20 - 30 seconds of power until it is 3/4 melted. Stirring and checking each time. Add the salt, let the butter and chocolate complete dissolving in the residual heat. If you overheat the chocolate, it will congeal and you cannot salvage it.

Stovetop: Fill a saucepan with ~ 1.5" (3.81cm)  of water. Fit a heatproof bowl over the saucepan. The bottom of the saucepan should not touch the water. 

Add the butter and chocolate into the heatproof bowl, turn on heat to medium. When the butter and chocolate is 3/4 melted, add the salt, turn off the heat and let the mix continue to melt in the residual heat

Assembling the tart base

Crush the biscuits into a powder with a rolling pin but it is easiest to use a food processor.

Mix 3 and 1/2 Tablespoons of evaporated milk into the melted butter and chocolate. Stir that into the crushed biscuits. It should look and feel like a drier version of wet sand. Refer to the picture below. Add more evaporated milk if you think it is necessary but 3.5 Tablespoons has always worked for me.

Press the mix into the tart pan. I use the flat surface of my wooden rolling pin. Pack it in tightly. Set the tart on a flat tray for stability and leave to set for at least 4 - 6 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Cover loosely with aluminium foil.

Tart filling

Mix the 3 and 1/2 Tablespoons evaporated milk with the 4 Tablespoons corn flour. Set aside.

In a saucepan, add the remaining evaporated milk, bittersweet chocolate, instant coffee powder, brown sugar and smoked salt. Heat over medium heat and whisk to dissolve.

When the chocolate has been dissolved, sift in cocoa powder and continue to whisk to incorporate. If you think the chocolate mixture is heating up too much, either reduce the temperature of the burner or remove the pot from the stove and whisk the mixture away from the burner. Then, return pot back to the burner. In fact, I move my pot back and forth from the burner quite often to prevent anything burning.

Once the cocoa powder has been well incorporated (and do not let the chocolate mixture boil at any time), give your corn flour and evaporated milk slurry a good mix before adding it in a steady stream whilst whisking it in with whisk in your other hand.

Once the corn flour is added, you have to whisk continuously so that the mixture can thicken evenly. If it doesn't seem to be thickening fast enough, increase the temperature a little. Remember, if the mixture starts to thicken too fast for you to control, remove from the burner and whisk away and return it back to the burner.

The mixture needs to thicken up to a consistency similar to an American pancake batter -perhaps a little less thick. Another example, it has to be a little thicker than the consistency of double/thickened/heavy cream.

Transfer into a cereal bowl and cover with a plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the thickened chocolate to avoid it forming a skin. Do not leave it in the pot. It might burn.

When the chocolate is no longer piping hot (between hot to warm), pour it into the prepared cookie-crumb tart shell. You can't pour the thickened chocolate in whilst it is still hot or the tart might start to disintegrate. Leave it too long to cool and the chocolate mixed would have set.

Cover loosely with aluminium foil. Refrigerate immediately and wait at least 8 hours before serving. It's best to leave it overnight.

This tart is intensely chocolatey and rich. I suggest you be modest with serving slices.

Do not let the tart sit indefinitely outside of the refrigerator, as it will start to soften.

Tips

Should you have any leftover evaporated milk, here are some ways to use them up

• Very mango-tasting and an easy recipe using just 5 ingredients, my Dim Sum Mango Pudding.

Then there is my Mexican Inspired Lime and Lemongrass Infused Caramel Flan. It's rich and satisfying like how a good caramel flan should taste but I have cut the cloying richness with a little lime and lemongrass.

Evaporated milk makes a Quick Mac And Cheese that is never chalky tasting.

If you only have a little evaporated milk left, it would be just the right amount for the following:

The ultimate icy chocolate drink, Milo Dinosaur!

Masala Tea or Chai Tea, milky Indian tea flavoured with freshly cracked cardamon pods and a touch of cloves.

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I love this drink and so do a lot of people! Strawberry and Beetroot Coolers.

Focaccia With Potatoes, Olives And Sage

Boiled potatoes, olives for saltiness, sage for a herby savouriness - all sitting on a soft bread with a light chew. Like any good focaccia, it has the rich taste of extra virgin olive oil and the characteristically uneven internal structure.

Abouts the Vatican City, there is a shop that sells scrumptious pizza. Thin crust with just the right balance of ingredients on it. It is baked in rectangular trays and sold by weight. If I lived there, I would eat their pizza every day. The pizzas are topped with a creative mix of ingredients and are very fresh. If you do a google search, you will know which shop I am referring to as just about everyone raves about how good it is.

My favourite is the one made with cubes of boiled potatoes, taleggio cheese and sage leaves. It is a surprisingly good combination and although the combination is nothing new to the Italians, I had never heard of it and I would never have thought carbo could work on carbo. That was a decade ago. To this day, I am still so enamoured with the combination, I always bake at least one tray of the same style of pizza on pizza baking days.

I like the fusion so much, I carry it through somewhat in my recipe for focaccia. Instead of the usual black olive or rosemary topped focaccia, try this version, you will be surprised at how well the mix of ingredients work. 

This focaccia goes through 2 rises instead of the traditional one to develop more flavour. Alternatively, prepare the dough overnight, roll into a ball, rub with extra virgin olive oil, cover and refrigerate. With that, you can skip the second rise and move on to prepping it the next day directly in the baking tray. Then, following through as outlined in my recipe below.
FOCACCIA WITH POTATOES, OLIVES & SAGE                 

Prep:	30 minutes
Cook:	Potatoes: ~8 minutes Baking: 20 -25 minutes
Inactive:	~ 3 hours
Level:	I think this is one of the easiest bread to bake with success for the beginner baker
Serves:	5 - 6
Oven Temperature:	400F 200C
Can recipe be doubled?	Yes
Make ahead?	Dough can be rested overnight. Taste best on the day it is baked.

Just the ingredients 3 and 1/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons bread flour  OR to make a healthier option replace with up to 3/4 cup of spelt flour 1 and 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast 2 teaspoons sugar 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 and 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons water 8 Tablespoons (divided) extra virgin olive oil + extra for oiling fingers ~ 1 potato or enough to make ~ 1/2 - 1 cup of boiled diced potatoes  A few green/black pitted olives Handful of fresh sage leaves Salt for sprinkling

Ingredients

3 and 1/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons bread flour 
OR to make a healthier option
replace with up to 3/4 cup of spelt flour

If you use spelt (a primitive whole grain flour), the focaccia will bake into a brown colour.  As spelt flour absorbs more water, add an additional 2- 3 Tablespoons of water.

1 and 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

2 teaspoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 and 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons water

6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil + extra for oiling fingers

Divided into 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 Tablespoons

~ 1 potato or enough to make ~ 1/2 to 1 cup of diced potatoes 
I prefer using a starchy potato like Russet or an all-purpose potato like Yukon because if you knock them up a bit after boiling (details in recipe below), those craggy bits will have a higher chance of baking into crisp edges.

A few green/black pitted olives
Not too much or it will be too salty.

Handful of fresh sage leaves

Salt for sprinkling

Method

By machine

In the mixer bowl, add the flour(s) (withhold the 2 Tablespoons of bread flour for the moment), instant yeast, sugar and salt and stir to mix well.

Make a well in the centre, 1 and 1/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons of water and the 2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.

Start the mixer on low speed and gradually work up to medium-medium high speed. I use my KitchenAid.

The dough will be sticky. Do not add any flour. Let the machine run for 8 - 10 minutes. 

If the dough looks impossibly sticky, use 1 of the 2 Tablespoons flour. If you think it is still too sticky, add the other 1 Tablespoon flour.

Beyond that, don't add any more flour. It might result in a dry focaccia and you want a sticky dough as it means you will get an irregular internal structure, that is, the characteristic large and small holes you see when you slice through a focaccia. Refer to my picture above. So remember, the dough should be on the sticky side with dough sticking to the sides of your mixer bowl.

By hand

You need a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients (but withhold the 2 Tablespoons of bread flour for the moment) and mix it well.

Create a well, add only 1 cup of the water and 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.

With a spoon or your fingers, use a circular motion to mix the water and oil and gradually work in the dry ingredients using the same circular motion.

This will be a very sticky dough but you must use up all the water indicated in my recipe. So once, you have incorporated all the dry ingredients into a mangled  mess, gradually work in the remaining 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons of water. If you have been using a spoon to do the mixing, you might want to switch to your fingers.

Knead for at least 10 minutes. The dough should get more elastic and stretchy.

After 10 minutes of kneading, the dough will still be sticky but it should be more elastic. If the dough feels impossibly sticky, use 1 of the 2 Tablespoons flour. If you think it is still too sticky, add the other 1 Tablespoon flour.

Beyond that, don't add any more flour. It might result in a dry focaccia and you want a sticky dough as it means you will get an irregular internal structure, that is, the characteristic large and small holes you see when you slice through a focaccia. Refer to my picture above. So remember, the dough should be on the sticky side with dough sticking to the sides of your bowl.

After kneading

Do the 'window pane' test. 

First, oil your finger tips with some extra virgin olive oil. If you can stretch the dough easily and thin enough till it's translucent without the dough quickly tearing, the gluten has developed enough and you are ready to go. If not, have the machine knead for another 5 minutes. If kneading by hand, you might have to knead even longer.

As sticky as it looks, this is the stage when my dough passed the 'window pane' test and when I stopped kneading, gathered it up into a ball to let it go through the first rise. 

Pour 2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into the bowl you would be using for rising the dough. Oil the sides of the bowl with your finger tips.

With the help of a scraper (oil if first), gather up the dough into a ball. Coat the ball on all sides with oil. This will keep the dough moist. The dough might be sitting in a little pool of extra virgin olive oil. That's fine.

Cover the bowl and leave it to rise until almost double in size. ~ 60 minutes.

The dough can also be refrigerated overnight at this point. 

Preparing the potatoes

Whilst the dough is rising, boil the potato(es) in their skin(s). When the water comes to a boil, salt the water generously. 

Once potatoes are cooked through, drain and whilst the potatoes are still warm, peel off the skins and cut into cubes. Place in a bowl. Salt them. 

Knock them up a bit by shaking the bowl. You want the edges bashed up a little so that those edges will bake up crisp. It's the same principle as when you roast potatoes that goes with the Sunday roast. Set aside. 

Do not cover. Instead, let the potato cubes air dry.

After the first rise

If you had refrigerated the dough, proceed straight to "After the second rise" instead.

Punch down the dough, quickly reshape into a ball, cover and let it go through a second rise. ~ 45 minutes.

After the second rise (transferring it to baking tray)

Have your baking tray ready. 

What size of a tray to use? It depends on how thin or thick you want your focaccia to be. For a baked focaccia between 1" - 2" thick, a tray ~14"x10"x1.5" (~35.5cmX24.4cmX3.8cm) should be fine.

Spread 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil onto the bottom and sides of the tray. 

Salt the bottom of the tray. 

Transfer the dough gently (with any remaining oil in the bowl) onto the baking tray. 

Stretch the dough out gently and then continue to stretch the dough out to try and fit the tray by digging your fingers straight into the dough and stretching the dough. You want to create little funnel pockets. However, don't over work the dough. 

In all likelihood, you would not be able to stretch the dough right into the corners of the tray, that's fine. As the dough rises and bakes it will fill the entire tray so leave it for now. 

Alternatively, let the dough rest for 15 minutes and go back to it and stretch it out a bit more but either way, keep the dough moist by spreading 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over the dough.

On my first attempt, I was not able to stretch the dough out to the corners. I brushed it with extra virgin olive oil and left it alone for 15 minutes. Then, I went back to it.

Pour 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a bowl and toss the boiled potatoes, sage leaves and olives in them.

Sage leaves are lightly to get singed in the oven without the coating of oil and you need the oil to help the sage leaves release its flavour. Either leave leaves whole or tear them up.

If you need to stretch the dough out a bit more to fill the tray, do so now.

Then, poke all the way in, right to the bottom of the tray, the cubes of potatoes, sage leaves and olives.

Cover, and let it rise until almost double in size. ~ 30 - 40 minutes.

Just before baking, you can choose to push the ingredients back down to the bottom of the tray so that you get a dimpled looking focaccia. 

Here is a tip. Your risen focaccia at this point might have risen unevenly. To even out the rise, play around with the ingredients -pushing the potato/sage/olive a bit further down into the dough or shifting them a little (left/right/forward/backward) to even out the rise of the dough. Don't over do the adjustments or you will deflate the risen dough. And, if you so happened to have overworked and deflated the dough, cover, leave it alone for 15 minutes and then proceed.

Brush the last 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil onto the dough and then sprinkle salt.

Bake at 400F (200C) on the middle rack for ~ 20 - 25 minutes. 

The top should be golden. When you use a palette knife to lift and peak at the base, it should be golden brown too and when you tap on the base, it would sound hollow.

Cool in the tray on a cooling rack before serving.

Tips

Suggestions for various other ingredients to top a focaccia

• grapes
• browned onions and browned julienned ginger
• dried cranberries (plumped up beforehand in some wine)
• cubes of roasted beetroot in various colours: gold, candy stripes, magenta
• pitted cherries
• all kinds of green herbs
• cherry tomatoes
• garlic slices
• smoked salt
• garlic salt

the possibilities are quite endless.

WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?                                             

This most intensely chocolatey tart meets with the complete approval of all the chocoholics I have fed it to.