I'm Hooked!

Yesterday, I used the last of the dough to make an olive, rosemary and Asiago Cheese focaccia to enjoy with our salad for supper.

I placed the dough on a heavy half sheet since I did not yet have a baking stone. Drizzled it with extra virgin olive oil, chopped Kalamata olives, freshly chopped rosemary (yes, from my winter garden), and grated Asiago cheese over the top and immediately baked it at 450 degrees.
A simple supper, but oh my, it was sublime!

As a result of our incredible success with this recipe, H and I immediately set about on a road trip to Bangor. Our first stop was to Borders to see if they had a copy of the book, "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes" www.artisanbreadinfive.com is the website.

We desperately searched the baking section, but with so many books from which to choose, we lamented that perhaps they did not yet carry the selection as it had only been published in November of 2007. While H went to check with a clerk, I continued to peruse the shelves and the fates were with us! I spied the one and only copy still in the store! We gleefully brought our prize to the checkout and "gasp", for the first time in my life, I actually paid full price for a book. Not to worry, the first page I opened caught my attention and imagination.

Now mind you, H cannot navigate his way out of a paper bag and since it's so seldom that we actually get into the big city, I need to pay close attention to where he's driving. Silly me. I thought I would be able to read this incredible book while he guided the Jeep over to Bed Bath and Beyond in search of a baking stone. Luckily, we needed to make a stop by PetCo for cat food anyway, but I was asked in no uncertain terms to "put the book down and tell me where to go"! Ahem, being a lady, I bit my tongue and directed him to the proper street.

We ran furiously through BB&B looking for the stone, the only thing which would truly give us that last bit of oomph, giving the bread the needed bit of stored heat for the crisp, crackly crust we longed for.

I was overwhelmed by all the kitchen gadgets which were hung ceiling to floor, but finally, H spied the last remaining baking stone on the lowest shelf. The package was open! Oh no, surely we had not come all this way only to find a cracked stone? Our sighs of relief were audible as we gingerly removed the stone from the violated packaging and found it in perfect condition. Mission accomplished! We had ventured out of the woods and into civilization to find the perfect accoutremonts for the perfect loaf.

On the way home, I merrily read recipes aloud to H and by the time we crossed the county line, we had decided upon supper. It was to be a Pizza Margarhita, since we had fresh basil from our friend's indoor garden, mozzarella and H's sauce. Done deal. Stayed tuned for photos tomorrow.