So, let's cook.
We had a three-course dinner with guests yesterday, so the dishes were a bit nicer than on weekdays. We had a lambs lettuce salad with shaved parmesan and tomatoes as a starter, the main course was a foccaccia filled with various cheeses and bacon, and some orange cream for dessert.
First, think about the table decoration. Since autumn has kicked in, the wife chose some leaves from the garden and some Halloweenish gummi stuff:
The wife prepared the dessert while I was away, so no pics of the preparation. Ingredients are (sample finished stuff at the bottom):
300 millilitres (1.2 cups) fresh squeezed orange juice
one pack of vanilla pudding powder (Is this known in the US?)
60 grams (1/2 cup) of sugar,
powdered sugar for the finishing,
250 grams (1 can) of double cream.
Preparation is simple: prepare the pudding according to the package instructions but with the orange juice instead of the advised milk, whip the cream and carefully mix it under the pudding mass. Spread the mass to some dessert bowls and sprinkle it with some powdered sugar. The optimal preparation would have been to place the dessert directly under a grill for a few minutes, so the sugar would caramelize. Unfortunately, we don't own an oven with that feature, so we tried it out in the normal oven, but to no avail. For a perfect finish, you could caramelize the sugar with a small torch, too.
Put the stuff in the fridge until serving.
Next was the preparation of the foccaccia itself. The ingredients for four persons are:
For the dough:
600 grams (1lb 6oz) of strong rising flour,
one cube of yeast,
some handwarm water,
one to two teaspoons of sugar to activate the yeast,
one to two teaspoons of salt,
For the filling/topping:
roughly 500 grams (1.5lb) of various cheeses (I used a ball of mozzarella, a stick of young gouda, a thick slice of Austrian mountain cheese and a small piece of parmesan),
8 bacon strips,
two handful of small tomatoes (I used miniature roma tomatoes),
some rosemary,
salt, pepper and olive oil (not pictured).
No special utensils are needed, but the following are advised:
A mixer with dough hooks (the dough can of course be kneaded by hand, but I find the result better with a mixer):
and a sieve for the flour (can also be done with a hairnet sieve):
First, activate the yeast by putting it in a glass of handwarm water and adding the sugar:
Break the cube up in the glass and stir occasionally:
The yeast is ready to use when the liquid starts to fizz lightly. This should take about 5 minutes.
In the meanwhile, sieve the flour in a mixing bowl and add the salt:
Pour the yeast over the flour and start kneading. Add some more handwarm water until the dough gets a smooth but still solid texture:
The dough is fine when it starts to come off the walls of the mixing bowl like pictured above. Cover the bowl with a towel and let it rest at a warm place for about 30 minutes:
After 30 minutes, knead the dough again for a few moments and let it rest with the towel on for another 20-30 minutes:
In the meantime, cube the mozzarella and grate the other cheeses. Put them in a bowl and mix them a bit:
Heat a pan without oil and fry the bacon strips until they are dark brown. When the strips are finishes, put them aside and let them cool down in the pan:
Pre-heat the oven to maximum temperature.
After the second rising of the dough, put it on a table sprinkled with flour, knead it a bit and then spread it to a square shape. Do not forget to cover your hands with flour, too, to prevent sticking:
When you have achieved a nice dough square (about one inch thick), spread half of the cheese and the bacon on the center of the dough. Finish with the rest of the ceese. Make sure that the borders of the dough stay empty (about one to two inches):
Now wrap the dough carefully around the filling. This is done best by folding up the adjacent sides one after another:
The result should look like a massive loaf of bread with the seams on top:
Carefully turn over the loaf and place it in an oven pan so that the loaf is now lying on the seams:
Cut the tomatoes roughly, place them on top of the loaf, add the rosemary leaves, put some salt and pepper on the loaf and finish off with some olive oil:
Finish Line:
Place the foccacia on the bottom of the hot oven and let it bake for 20-30 minutes:
Immediately before serving, prepare the salad with a dressing from white balsamico, olive oil, cubed red onions, salt, pepper and a teaspoon of honey (described in Vol.1).
DONE!
(minor leakage is an indicator that the inside is ready
)
Serve the starter salad:
Followed by the foccaccia, served as a whole in the pan and cut open on the table:
And the dessert (turned out as suboptimal, i booked it under "beta version" for future improvement) as a finisher:
Guten Appetit! from Bonn.
Tonights dish will be some red wine pasta with a cream and cheese sauce.
Feedback, opinions and contributions are, as always, heartily encouraged.
Keep'em coming!:lol
