HERBS

Herbs hold a special place in my heart, not only because I garden and love to pinch herbs to release their fragrance as I walk through them, but also because I love to cook.  Sometimes, I truly enjoy it.  I am the primary chef of our home, Greg does occasionally enjoy making a meal and getting fancy with it, and he is quite good at it too.  Everything we make is preferrable from scratch or from whole foods.  I prefer to not eat pre packaged foods, and believe that good nutrition begins with a highly plant based diet.  ...but that is another blog post.

Right now I wanted to write briefly about herbs.  I love to grow them in the garden for fresh picking all summer long.  This year, I bought this pretty ceramic strawberry pot and decided to grow different herbs from each pocket.  I started them all by seed, directly inside each pocket....in this photo, they are just setting their first round of real leaves, and still require a bit of growth to be used.  At the top is sweet basil, then I have rosemary, marjoram, thyme, and cilantro.  These are all major kitchen herbs, and I can have them close at hand by keeping this pot right on the kitchen island.

A little more on herbs tomorrow!!.......

 

Today's post is short, but I'll share a recipe that I just love!  Herbed Focaccia Bread. ...yes, I love to make homemade breads!! .... A soft, artisan bread, awesome for sandwiches!  I like grilling the bread just a tad, slathering on pesto and grilled chicken breasts, a little lettuce and tomato and you have the perfect sandwich!

You can also add pressed garlic to the dough along with your herbs ...better if you roast the garlic first.

Herbed Focaccia Bread

2 2/3 cups unbleached flour
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 Cups of hand hot water
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing
4 tsp of finely chopped fresh herbs ( I like thyme, basil, Rosemary, and oregano)
sea salt for sprinkling
combine the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a bowl and make a well in the center. Stir in most of the water and 2 Tbsp of the olive oil to make a dough. Gradually add remaining water, if necessary, drawing in the flour.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead. Transfer to a bowl and lightly knead in the herbs for 10 minutes until soft and not sticky, adding in flour if needed to keep it from sticking. Wash the bowl and then lightly coat it with olive oil.
Shape the dough into a ball, set into bowl and cover with a towel. Set in warm place to rise until doubled in size. Meanwhile, you can sprinkle polenta or corn meal over a baking sheet.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead lightly. Cover with the bowl and let rest for 10 minutes. Then you can split the dough into twos or keep all together..... Roll it out and pat the dough into a circle, about 1/2 inch thick. Carefully transfer it to the baking sheet, cover dough with towel and let rise for 15 minutes.
Use a lightly oiled finger to poke indentations all over the surface of the loaf. Drizzle remaining olive oil over , brush it over and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake in pre heated oven at 450 degrees for 15 minutes until golden and sounds hollow when tapped.
Cool slightly and enjoy!