Its been over a month since i blogged. And am i glad to be back. My in-laws are visiting us, so we have been busy showing them around the world famous Disney and other Orlando theme parks, the beautiful beaches in Florida and in general spending time with them. Moreover, school and my never ending exams have kept me so occupied that i didnt even find time to blog-hop. I had intended to submit this recipe to Coffee's MBP: Bread event but couldnt find the time to post it. Sorry Coffee:(


I would like to pass on some information about Epcot, which is a Disney owned park in Orlando. This park is a treat for all food lovers out there. The reason being Epcot is a park which is modeled to reflect different international cultures such as China, Japan, Morocco, Norway, Mexico, Germany, Canada, England, France, Italy.....it goes on. Each country has dainty little shops selling beautiful momentos from their culture and restaurants which serve a varied array of mouthwatering dishes unique to each country. We were lucky to have had the opportunity to be at Epcot around this time because Epcot currently has a Food and Wine festival going on till mid-November. Also, they have different wine tasting events and sumptous dinners overseen by renowned Chefs from around the World (although they cost an arm and leg).They also have a total of 28-32 countries that have set up stalls and are serving food, beer and wine from each region. All you guys who are planning to visit Florida around this time or those who live close by shouldn't miss this opportunity.


For further information on the Epcot Food and Wine festival, visit the link below:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/guides/epcot/events/


And now onto the recipe: Since i had initially planned on submitting the recipe to the MBP event, this is not my creation. While browsing for a bread baking recipe, i stumbled on to this Focaccia bread recipe from Baking Bites and i just twisted it a little to suit my or rather P's tastes.


This was my first time baking a bread, so instead of giving you the recipe (since its available on Baking Bites already), i will tell you about the mistakes that i made and how to avoid it. Baking a bread is acutally very easy. All you need is a few ingredients, an oven and a thermometer (this one i tried without the thermometer, but i am planning on getting one soon). Heres the link to the recipe:


http://bakingbites.com/2007/05/feta-and-tomato-focaccia/


My faux pas while baking the focaccia

1. I decided on baking half the quantity of bread since it was my first time baking, however i didnt read the recipe correctly and instead of following the package directions for dissolving the yeast, i used half the quantity of water as the recipe stated (as a result i had half a cup of extra water) and i had to add 2-3 cups of the all purpose flour in addition to what was called for in the recipe. *Not that it made any difference to the recipe (since i increased the quantity of other ingredients), but i had more bread on my hand than what i planned for and the yeast might have been insufficient, as a result the bread didnt turn out to be as light.
2. After making the dough, the recipe called for coating it with olive oil and leaving it in the baking sheet or tray for half an hour- covered. I left it in the same bowl that i had mixed the dough in. The dough rose pretty well but then i had to transfer it to the baking tray and it sagged. It rose however when it was baked but more than it should have- it kind of puffed up so high that it cracked from one side. The more the dough rises intially, the better before you bake it.
3. I used active dry yeast packets and i didnt follow the package directions the first time around. Follow the packet directions and add 1 tsp of sugar as it calls for so that the yeast will rise.
4. In haste i forgot to add the feta cheese, opened up the oven in the middle of the baking and added the cheese.


Verdict: In all the focaccia bread turned out to be really delicious and moist, however i would have preferred it to be a little more lighter than it was.


My variation to the focaccia:

I added the following ingredients to the dough while kneeding it

1. Finely minced garlic
2. Dry thyme and basil


I added tomatoes to one half of the dough after i had spread it out on to the baking sheet and olives on the other half (since P doesnt like olives).


I will be posting the pics to this recipe soon, since they are on P's laptop and i have not had the time to download them onto mine.