It’s hot outside! But that doesn’t stop our love of bread. Here’s a variation you can do for the focaccia bread recipe from Episode 1: cook it on the grill!
Prepare the focaccia recipe the same, up to the part about putting it in a pan. Instead, you’ll want to put it into two smaller pans that will fit on your grill. I used two metal sheet pans (they call them 1/4 size in professional kitchen supply stores) and it fit on the charcoal grill just fine (one at a time with chicken also on the grill).
Cook it on the grill with the lid on, about 15 minutes. Carefully remove the pan from the grill and using a metal spatula, remove the bread from the pan. Place the bread back on the grill, directly on the grate, about 5 minutes. Flip over and cook on the “top side” another 5 minutes. The bread should now be crispy on the outside, spongy on the inside and cooked all the way through.
Here’s the full recipe with the grilling variation:
- 3 cups bread flour
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
- ¼ teaspoon instant yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups cold water
- ¾ teaspoons kosher or sea salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons herbs de province (optional) or 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the bread flour, whole wheat flour and salt together. Add water and mix on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 7 minutes.
- Oil a medium sized bowl, and pour the dough into it. Cover and let rise at room temperature for 3-4 hours. The dough will be very sticky.
- Transfer the dough to two small oiled pans that are roughly 4x6 or will fit on your grill. Allow it to rise for 3-4 more hours. Will look puffy with bubbles, don’t handle too much and deflate. 30 minutes before the end of the rising time, heat the coals in your grill, or turn the grill on to medium high.
- When ready to bake, generously drizzle olive oil over top. The oil will help form a fabulous crunch and crust on the grilled bread, and help it from sticking to the grill grates. Sprinkle herbs de province and coarse salt over the top.
- Grill for 15 minutes over indirect heat, until the bread is set and mostly cooked. Remove the bread from the pan and put directly on the grill over direct heat for 5 minutes on one side. Flip and cook 5 more minutes. Remove from the grill and let cool slightly. Slice and serve with grilled chicken or fresh summer tomatoes! There really is nothing better.
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