Sunday 8 June 2014

Slow Cooked Focaccia Bread

 On the Down to Earth Forums this week one of the members shared about Slow Cooked Focaccia Bread and gave the recipe. I asked her for permission to use the recipe on my blog and she replied that it is from this page on the Great Australia Bite. This is on Facebook but you don't have to be a Facebook member to read the recipes there. I'm not and I was able to scroll through some fabulous recipes which I intend to try out in the near future. So here are my adventures with making the Slow Cooked Focaccia Bread.


Firstly, here is the recipe from the Facebook page. I couldn't find anything about copyright on the page to give credit to the person who wrote the recipe.


Slow Cooked Focaccia Bread

Ingredients 

3 cups of Self Raising Flour
2 cups of WARM water
1/2 teaspoon of salt
(that is the base - you can add what ever you like into the mix and on top )

Method

Turn your slow cooker on to high.

Line it with baking paper, and give it a good spray.

Once the ingredients are mixed, put the mix in the slow cooker then put what you like on top.

Before placing the lid on, drape a clean tea towel over the top of the slow cooker then place the lid on so that it holds the tea towel there. This is to stop condensation dripping on the bread.

Cook on high for 1 and a 1/2 hours

Once cooked place under the grill for about 5 minutes to brown the top.






Well, I had a few issues with making this bread. On Thursday I started measuring out the flour and then realised I didn't have enough white SR flour left so used two cups wholemeal SR flour and one cup of white SR flour. I thought it would be too heavy when using three cups of wholemeal SR flour anyway so was fairly confident it would work out.

Unfortunately, when the one and a half hours were up, it wasn't cooked properly but I had to go out so took it out of the crockpot and it ended up being a big 'doughy'. However, it mustn't have tasted too bad as it was all eaten for dinner.



So I thought I would have another try yesterday so cut up some parsley, rosemary and chives as well as some garlic and added them ...


 ...to the flour and water and mixed it up...


...put it in the crock pot with some olives on one side for the olive lovers in the family...


...put the tea towel under the lid to prevent drips onto the bread...

 


...and left it for two hours to cook as this time I used half white and half wholemeal SR flour...or so I thought. I looked into the crock pot and was wondering why it hadn't risen very much so checked the packet of flour I had bought the day before and would you believe it...it was PLAIN FLOUR!!! I thought I had bought SR flour.

So hopefully the next time I make it I will actually use the correct ingredients and cook it for the correct amount of time. As with the first try, the bread was eaten in no time with some pea and ham soup so obviously it was still quite tasty.

Here are the notes on the Great Australian Bite page about toppings you can add:

NOTES

Here are some toppings that you can use:

* add rosemary to the mix, then on top added diced bacon , grated cheese and parmesan ( grated) cheese.

* ham, rosemary to the mix and on top added diced ham, cheese and Parmesan.

* garlic ( as much as you like), diced bacon, pineapple pieces to the mix , then on top grated cheese, bacon, pineapple and Parmesan.

* on top Vegemite and grated cheese and Parmesan.

* add to the mix olives, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms to the mix, and sun-dried tomatoes and olives and cheese on top.

* or just some simple herbs and cheese to top.

Let me know if you try the recipe and if it works out for you. Next time I go shopping for SR flour I will wear my glasses!

---oOo---

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UPDATE: I know a couple of readers are on holiday at the moment who might like to enter in the competition so I have extended the closing date till the end of the month, 30th June! Anyone can enter whether you are a new reader or have been visiting here for a while.


13 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for sharing this, it looks amazing & love that it's done in the slow cooker. I have one of sons coming over tomorrow for tea his birthday will give this a try. O I love the pretty tea towel is that vintage, looks so nice

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  2. Hi Sarah. Yes,do give it a try. I guess you would call the tea towel 'vintage' as it was one of my mum's and she died a few years ago at age 97. I had never thought of it as 'vintage'. LOL! I might add that it is Pure Linen and will probably last a lot longer than the ones you can buy now.

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  3. Will certainly give this a go. My daughter and I were only discussing yesterday about different things to cook in a slow cooker.

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    Replies
    1. Tanya, it is great and I add heaps of herbs and garlic as well. Very yummy with soup.

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  4. You know the saying, practice makes perfect. Good luck on the third go.

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  5. Deb, the third go went well and got scoffed down as quickly as the first two tries. :-)

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  6. Yum I must try this. Hopefully you have made all the mistakes lol and mine will be perfect :)

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    Replies
    1. Tania, I won't be making it again in a hurry as I cracked my crock pot and need to buy another one now....and I nearly had the perfect loaf. LOL!

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    2. Oh drat Nanna Chel! I am looking at using my camp oven for more cooking. Hubby has a fire drum outside under our new area and I think would be great for using the camp oven. If not I am sure he will come up with something. I have found a couple of good pages on facebook and the web for recipes :) I barely use my crock pot, I really should use it more though...

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  7. Rotten luck about the crock cracking Chel. I think I have it down to pat now. I add to the mix:

    1 tsp Italian herbs
    3 crushed cloves of garlic
    grated cheese
    chopped or shredded ham or salami

    For the topping:

    more grated cheese
    olives on Paul's side
    sprigs of fresh rosemary
    chopped chives or the green of spring onions

    I have found the round pizza thingo with a handle (gadget that you prepare the pizza on before sliding onto the stone in the oven) is fantastic for browning the focaccia.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Heather. I now have a new crockpot so will try adding cheese next time. The bread goes so well with soup I must admit.

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  8. Tried this and the mixture was very runny so I added more flour and it made the foccacia very heavy. It tasted nice. Does anyone know the consistency?

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  9. Sorry it is a while since I made this. Did you click on the link to The Great Australian Bite I gave in the blog post. Perhaps you can ask there and get some help.

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