I have put together a NYC Food Bloggers Mailing List. If you are a food blogger who lives in or around NYC, please subscribe to the mailing list here. We can use this to announce further potlucks, parties, classes, sales, tastings, and any other events local food bloggers might enjoy and are invited to attend.

Please spread the word, because the more NYC food bloggers sign up for this mailing list, the better our potlucks will be.

Thank you.

Dave makes this bread again and again, always disappointed, always trying to perfect it. I dutifully taste each incarnation, each perfect, and each better than the last.

It was a hit at the recent NYC Food Blogger Potluck, and I had to promise a few people that I would post the recipe. Here it is. Your compliments made Dave’s week, and I thank you, because I love watching him glow like that.

He is holding the bread in the top photo, while rubbing the fluffy white underbelly of our household floofin’, Katya.

Dave’s Garlic Focaccia
The recipe is found in the narrative below, in Dave’s own words.

Take 150 g flour and 1 C water and 1/4 tsp yeast. Mix well, leave overnight.

Chop the top off a head of garlic. Wrap it in a couple layers of aluminum foil, and pour in some olive oil. Roast it at 375 for 45 minutes, or until soft but not burned.

Squeeze out the garlic. Take the oil from the garlic and add enough olive oil to make 1/4 C. Add this, the squeezed-out garlic, 250 g flour, 1 tsp yeast, and 1 tsp salt to the starter. I found the dough too soft and sticky to knead on a counter, so I kneeded it in my hands. I did it unidirectionally — squeeze and stretch the dough to form a log, then fold the log like a letter, and repeat until it feels right.

[actually, last time I used the mixer and a dough hook and it was fine]

Allow it to double in the usual fashion. Optionally, refridgerate it overnight. This will produce a more sour flavor.

Shape the dough into a flat loaf — no more than 1 inch high. Allow to rise until it stops — when you poke it with a finger, it won’t bounce back. While it’s doing this, heat oven to 550 for an hour to heat your baking stone. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, with an initial blast of steam (basically, throw a cup of water at the bottom of your oven and close the door quickly). Flip it over at 10 minutes to toast the top.

Let it cool on a wire rack. This step is important — otherwise, steam will destroy the crust.

Note: Sometimes Dave brushes the top of the bread with olive oil and then sprinkles on some chopped up garlic, ground black pepper, and/or a nice, crunchy salt.