homemade rosemary and thyme focaccia.

right now im in love with my bread machine.
the ease of chucking everything into the little wonder pot and hearing the dough roll round and about inside.

today for dinner i cooked up a leg of lamb and some roasted cauliflower and pumpkin.
and thought what would be a better accompaniment than some focaccia bread to soak up the juices.

back in singapore i had the privilege of attending one of the classes in Tangs Kitchen to get a feel of how the teaching there was like (before i started work)
and the Italian chef that day taught us how to make some.
before the class,
my thoughts on making bread from scratch was.....
"just buy some from the bakery!! its way too troublesome"

now all i can say is...
it isnt that hard!!
i promise.
and nothing is better than bread straight from the oven. (with a possible strand of your own hair kneaded into it =X)

Homemade rosemary and thyme focaccia.

Ingredients

330 ml warm water
1 tbs Olive oil
3 1/4 cups plain flour (i used italian double O flour)
1 mashed potato
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp dry yeast

2 tbs olive oil (for topping)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried rosemary (fresh is better)
2 tbs sea salt

1. Pour water and oil into your bread machine pan.

2. combine flour, mashed potato, sugar and salt, and add to the pan.

3. Make a small pocket on the top and fill with yeast.

4. Set machine on "dough" setting.

5. After cycle is done, take it out and knead lightly on floured surface, add more flour if too sticky. Place it on an oiled baking tray and leave covered with a cloth in a warm corner for 30 minutes.

6. Using your knuckles/ fingers, press dents into the dough. Smear more oil over the top and sprinkle with herbs and sea salt.

7. Bake in preheated oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.