Bake Bread for St. Joseph Altars

St. Giuseppe of Copertino,  his Italian title,  had a very difficult time finding his place in life because he was different.  He was not very bright and those in his village often made fun of him because of his simplicity.  But one day a monk came to town begging for bread.  Giuseppe thought to himself,  “ I may not know how to do many things,  but surely I am good at begging for bread”,  thus he found his vocation as a monk.  This Italian bread recipe of Focaccia is the perfect food for a simple meal.

Ingredients

2 1/2 organic unbleached flour

and some flour for dusting

1 heaping teaspoon of flake salt

2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast

1 1/2 cups of water

1/2 teaspoon of organic sugar

1/3 cup virgin organic

olive oil

1 small handful fresh of rosemary 

and thyme from the garden 

taken off the stem and chopped

 coarse salt

Slightly heat water until just warm, add yeast and 1/2 teaspoon of organic sugar.  Let the yeast set for 7 minutes.

In a bowl add flour, salt and mix in yeast solution. Mix well all the ingredients.  Remove the sticky dough and set aside for a moment.  Then add flour right into the bowl and knead the bread dough inside the bowl.  It does not take a lot of kneading just enough that the bread is slightly sticky to the touch.  Then set the dough aside, wash out the bowl and dry it.  Next, oil the bowl with olive oil, place the bread back into the bowl and cover with a clean white dish towel .  Place it in a warm place and let rise for one hour.

If you have a baking stone you can use it according to the instructions to cook your focaccia, this will give it a that old world flavor of a stone oven. 

But if not using a stone just preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Punch the dough down and take half of the dough and place on a floured bread board.  Roll the dough out about 2 inches thick.  Use a pizza pan for baking the bread.  Now brush the pan with some of the olive oil and transfer the dough to the pan.  Press the rolled out dough with your finger and make small indentations on the surface of the dough with your finger tips.  Brush the remaining oil on top of the bread dough then sprinkle with the chopped rosemary,  thyme and salt.  

 

Cover the dough with a dish towel again and allow it to rise in a warm place for 15 minutes.  Repeat the process with the other half of the dough.  Bake the bread until it is golden brown for 12-15 minutes.  

Join me March 19-20th to bake bread and give to your neighborhood homeless featured on Global Pilgrimage on Facebook.  Please contact me Raylene Abbott   Contact at https://www.facebook.com/raylene.abbott/