Focaccia and Pizza
These Italian classic breads are both delicious and occupy almost the same place in our minds but they are actually somewhat different. You use the straight dough method for the mixing in both but in the Focaccia you want the dough to remain slightly wet and you do not want to work it a lot. It should not develop long gluten chains and we want the end result to be very light and fluffy. After fermenting the dough and punching it down we slowly stretch the dough in a hotel pan, be sure to oil your hands not to tear or stick to the dough in the process. The Focaccia will grow up in the oven so be sure to have a deep enough pan (like the hotel pan we suggested above). Chef Oliveira loves the traditional version we made in this batch with plenty of olive oil, sea salt and rosemary. To serve, more olive oil in an aromatic mix is just perfect.
With the Pizza after mixing and fermenting your dough should be less wet than what you saw with the focaccia. Don't be afraid to work the Pizza dough to get it to the right consistency. Unlike the Focaccia you are spreading the pizza thin, be sure to have some extra flour on the bottom so the pizza doesn't stick in your oven or in your pan, it should not be sticking before it goes into the oven. You lay your tomato sauce, mozzarella and other ingredients and go into a hot, hot oven. Pizza is done very quickly! In the picture below we sautéed some Portobello Mushroom with plenty of minced garlic for a very Italian taste. Check both our plates in the pictures below, they were delicious!
Challah is a traditional jewish bread and a very important characteristic is the weaving of the dough in a braided pattern. Just like braiding hair you get 3 strings and keep moving over and under, it looks amazing and the taste follows, check out our Challah in pictures 11 and 12.
As you can see from our Scones in pictures 6 and 7 they have an overwhelming amount of chocolate on them. It did affect their texture as they were crumblier than they should but our team insisted on getting this batch particularly outrageous and the taste did not let down!