Stuffed Focaccia with Caramelized Onions, Garlic, and Tomatoes

Stuffed Focaccia with Caramelized Onions, Tomatoes, and Garlic
Photography by Benner!

I made this in St. Louis, MO. It essentially tastes like deliciously stuffed bread. The caramelized onions are what really make this recipe stand out. Therefore, although the second way has not been tested yet, I’m providing two ways to go about this recipe. The first way has two layers of focaccia surrounding a layer of onions and tomatoes. The second way has three thinner layers of focaccia and two layers of onions and tomatoes. The second way is a little bit more of an ode to caramelized onions. Once again, I used Savory Baking from the Mediterranean: Focaccias, Flatbreads, Rusks, Tarts, and Other Breads by Anissa Helou as a guide for the ingredients. However, her proportions differ from mine a lot. The original recipe also does not include the stuffing component.


Ingredients:
• 4 ½ teaspoons (2 packages) of active dry yeast
• ½ cup warm water with a ¼ teaspoon of sugar or honey mixed in
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 ¼ teaspoons of sea salt
• Extra-virgin olive oil
For Stuffing (Double this if doing the second variation)
• ¾ cup chopped tomato. It’s about 1 large tomato, similar to the size of an heirloom but don’t pay the price of an heirloom just to bake it
• 2 large cloves of garlic finely chopped
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small red onion
• ½ small white/yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons and 1 ½ teaspoons of brown sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons of granulated white sugar
• ¼-1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1 dabble (about 3/4 tsp) of molasses
• 1 pinch of red pepper flakes

1. Stir the yeast and ½ of warm water in a cup and let sit until it starts to foam a bit
2. Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Then make a well and pour in the yeast mixture. Slowly bring in the wall of flour/salt into the wet yeast until well combined. If it is too dry, add more warm water. If it is too wet, add a bit more flour. Knead for 16 minutes.
3. Knead the dough into a ball, and then turn the bowl over on top of the dough (like a person in an ingloo) and let it sit for 15 minutes.
4. Knead the dough for 3 minutes. Pour some olive oil into the bowl (about 1 tablespoon) Use the ball of dough to spread the olive oil around the sides of the bowl. With its nice layer of olive oil, put the ball of dough in the bowel, cover it with a kitchen towel, put it in a warm place. Let it rise for one hour or until doubled. This may vary depending on the temperature. In St. Louis, it took thirty minutes to triple in size. In San Francisco, it took two hours.
5. Brush a cooking sheet with olive oil. Remove the dough from the bowl and being to stretch the dough by hand across the cookie sheet. The dough should be no more than ¾ of an inch thick. It should really be more around ¼-1/2 inch. The dough’s thickness should be nowhere near that point where the dough is so thin that it starts to break. You want it to be much thicker than that. Aka. Pizza dough thickness is too thin. If you want the single stuff layer focaccia, option one, the dough can be thicker than the double stuffed type, option two. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise for another 20 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 450°F
7. Chop the onions into about ½ inch slivers.
8. On the stove, in a small sauté pan, heat up 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of olive oil. When heated, add the onions. Toss and let simmer until wilted.
9. Add the sugars and salt, stir, and let cook. Stir occasionally.
10. Add the vinegar. Stir occasionally. (7 minute mark ish)
11. Add the dollop of molasses and continue to stir until the onions begin to caramelize.
12. Add a pinch of red pepper, stir in thoroughly, and remove from flame.
13. Finely chop garlic
14. Dice the tomatoes
Option one. Single stuffed layer:
1. Fold the dough in half.
2. Lift one wing of the dough and pour in the caramelized onions. Spread the caramelized onions, including the liquid, on the bottom layer of focaccia. Sprinkle the tomatoes around it.
3. Begin pressing the two layers of focaccia together. It will sort of resemble a half moon or calzone.
4. Let rise under a damp kitchen towel for 30 minutes to an hour.
5. Using your finger, make indentations of the top layer of focaccia. Sprinkle the garlic on the top layer as well as some good salt. Trickle olive oil around the focaccia.
6. Put in the oven for 12-17 minutes. The bread should be golden. Let cool and eat up!
Option Two. Double stuffed:
1. Divide the dough into thirds.
2. On the bottom layer of dough pour half of the caramelized onions. Spread the caramelized onions, including the liquid, on the bottom layer of focaccia. Sprinkle half of the tomatoes around it.
3. Begin pressing the two layers of focaccia together. It will sort of resemble a half moon or calzone.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the second layer of stuffed focaccia.
5. Let rise under a damp kitchen towel for 30 minutes to an hour.
6. Using your finger, make indentations of the top layer of focaccia. Sprinkle the garlic on the top layer as well as some good salt. Trickle olive oil around the focaccia.
7. Put in the oven for 12-17 minutes. The bread should be golden. Let cool and eat up!

Root Beer Breakfast Bread

Here is a recipe I made up today while I wasn't reading about sustainable agriculture (get excited!).
The ingredients are in bold.

Soda? For Breakfast?!?!? Root Beer Breakfast Bread

1. In a microwave, warm up ½ cup of natural root beer (mine was all natural from Whole Foods so I'd say, aim for something like that).
2. In a small bowl combine & stir 2 packets of rapid rise yeast (4 ½ tsp) and the warm root beer.
3. After giving it a couple minutes to bubble up, add 2/3 cups of flour to the root beer –yeast mix well again.
4. Give with a towel and let rise in a warm area for one hour.
5. Plump 1/3 cup raisins (or more!) in water for 30 minutes
6. Coarsely chop 1/3 cup of walnuts
7. In a large bowl combine about 2.5 cups of flour (more can be added later), and 1.5 teaspoons of salt. Make a well in the center.
8. After an hour, pour the root beer sponge into the flour mixture and start stirring.
9. Add the raisins and walnuts into the dough
10. Have on deck a mixture of 1/4c root beer, a sprinkle (1 tsp ish of brown sugar), and ¼ c of water. Use this mixture if the dough is too dry.
11. Add more flour and the rootbeer/water mixture until the proper bread dough consistency is achieved.
12. Knead for 2-4 minutes.
13. Put the ball of dough underneath a bowl (like turn the bowl upside down over the ball) for 15 minutes
14. Knead for another 2-4 minutes.
15. Shape dough into a baguette and cut shallow slits in the top.
16. Put the uncooked baguette on parchment paper on a baking sheet and let rise in a warm place for two hours with a damp towel over it. My dough rose about 2.5 times in size.
17. Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit with a oven proof pan on the lowest rack. You’ll cook the bread on the middle rack
18. Put the baguette in the oven and throw in 4-5 ice cubes* in the pan below. Cook the bread for 35-45 minutes.


*I must credit Anissa Helou's book Savory Baking from the Mediterranean for this tip as well as the yeast-to fluid ratio in the first two steps!!!

Update on Everything

Hello,
Sorry for the lag in posts; I've been wrapping up the semester. A couple of updates and an invitation is in store for this post. Within the past month I have:
1. Written my proposal
2. Had this proposal (semi-briefed for you all earlier) approved.
3. Made formal arrangements to volunteer with Farm Fresh.
4. Rented a house for the summer in RI (wohoo!!!!)

Within the next week, I will be posting another informative post. Until then, I'd like to open up the blog for questions and ideas. One of the points of writing a blog is to inform the reader, so I'd love to hear what you want to know about farmers' markets, food in general, sustainability, what Wheaton's doing to be sustainable, etc. Also, part of my work with Farm Fresh will be interviewing farms as well as restaurants that are involved in the FMs. If you have an ideas for interview questions, that aren't obvious, such suggestions would be appreciated.

Until then, live to eat.
-a

Why the Tomato

Many people have asked, “Why the tomato?” I chose the tomato because has multiple taste-purposes, experienced its fair share of abuse from the food industry and it is used by most cultures in food. When I was growing up, I remember that nobody knew if tomatoes were a fruit or a vegetable. They have seeds and grow on vines like fruits, but we eat them in dishes that are thought of as side veggies, not side fruits. When I think of a tomato based curry or tomato sauce, I think of those as vegetable dishes. When I was younger, I personally never found tomatoes to be a treat like other fruits, they were as much of a chore as salad or broccoli. Tomatoes are one of the most inconsistent items of produce around. They can be sweet and delicious or mealy and inedible. Tomatoes are one of the few items of produce that have never been clearly categorized.

Tomatoes have also been affected and manipulated by the food industry. The reason why tomatoes can be in the grocery store year round is because most tomatoes are genetically modified organisms (GMOs). At my high school, The Urban School of San Francisco, our science teacher had us read about tomatoes in our genetics class. In the article “Rich Tomato, Poor Tomato” by Michael Idov, I learned about the process that most heirloom tomatoes undergo in order to appear beautiful yet tasteless in the supermarket (New York Times Magazine. September 17, 2006). Tomatoes have undergone so much experimentation, that in order to appear normal in the produce aisle, they are picked before ripe, bathed in a chlorinated bath, stay in a “ripening room”, and then sprayed with ethylene. They are sprayed with ethylene to “turn tomatoes the desired sunset shade” (New York Times Magazine). The tomatoes’ identity crisis is exacerbated by the food industry’s aim towards homogeny and accessibility. GMOs have turned the growing of tomatoes into an unnatural process. This over-processing of produce has led for tomatoes to be accessible year round and sit in a grocery store for over a week without undergoing any changes to the taste or texture of the tomato (New York Times Magazine). Tomatoes are a key example of the changes that have occurred in farming over the past century hence another reason why the tomato is part of the title of this blog.

Another reason why I chose the tomato, is that tomatoes are consumed by most cultures. Tomatoes are used in many Italian, Middle Eastern, American, French, African, Indian, etc. recipes. I have yet to find a recipe book that does not call for the use of tomatoes in at least one recipe. Due to their ambiguity, they can be used in any dish. Some cultures use tomatoes for their acidity and tang, while others use them for their smooth texture and sweet taste. Some people grow tomatoes in their backyard and can eat them in their most simple form, off the vine, but the same household probably also has ketchup in their refrigerator. I used to think I hated tomatoes until I realized that I probably consume them in some form at least daily. Think about it.

The tomato has played an oddly prominent role in the food world. It is consumed by many and frequently; however, the sacrifices made in quality for accessibility should not be ignored. Tomatoes are a treasured fruit that have been both botched up by the food industry and preserved by the home gardener. I chose the tomato to be in the title of my blog because it is one of the better and subtler examples of how the food industry has altered some of the most popular foods.

And so this begins....

With a conjunction!?!? Tsk tsk. Welcome to the start of a long journey about sustainable farming that does not begin or end with this blog*. The purpose of "The Wheaton Tomato" is to document different farms that participate in the "Farm Fresh" Rhode Island farmers' markets. I hope to, as objectively as possible, present information about sustainable farming in this area. On days when I am not volunteering or visiting farms, I plan to post recipes using ingredients that are locally and seasonably obtainable. I hope to inform not only myself and faculty sponsor, but also the greater Wheaton College community about local foods.

Ever since I took "Ethics" at Wheaton, I have been addicted to philosophy. Although all philosophy is interesting, I am most interested in how people make "good" decisions, what constitutes as doing "the right thing," how can a person maintain in good moral standing, and what are the small changes a person can make in order to be a better person. I have always worried about how my actions affect other people. Since it is impossible to constantly do the right thing, I have channeled much of this anxiety into food. The most productive way I have done this is by caring about where my food comes from and who, including the mother nature, that affects. In college, I have found a way to connect my academic interests with my extracurricular activities, and will continue to link them together through this blog.

Here is a bullet list of my goals (so far) for this blog:

• To research agricultural practices of Rhode Island farms who participate in Farm Fresh.
• To research the requirements for farms to be able to participate in farmers' markets.
• Raise awareness about local food for at least the Wheaton community and hopefully anyone who eats on the East Coast.
• Create changes with Wheaton's food services to support even more local farmers.
• Look at the social and political issues as to why the farmers' market is generally a white middle class space.
• Cook and share recipes that will inspire people to attend their local farmer's markets and cook with seasonable produce.
• Build relationships with farms so that the Feminism Food Studies in Action class can visit these farms and work with them in the Spring of 2011.
• Volunteer with Farm Fresh Rhode Island.
• Read and present food related writings such as excerpts from "The Cottage River Meat Book" (Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall), or "In the Defense of Food" (Michael Pollan).
• Determine if farmers' markets are as ethical as most people assume they are.

As I continue to do more research, I will develop more specific goals for my research this summer. I wanted to get this blog running as soon as possible so that I can make sure it runs smoothly when I'm actually out in the field doing research. For the time being, I will most likely post recipes, talk about recently published articles, and write about how my summer plans continue to shape. By the end of the end of April, I should have a more more clear idea about the work and research I will be doing this summer. I am also open to suggestions and collaboration.

* When I say, "sustainable farming does not start or end with this blog," I mean to emphasize how sustainable living is a lifestyle, not a trend. If you haven't already, I hope that you will read this blog as a conscious- raising tool to inform yourself on how to live and eat more sustainably.