I am

extremely happy and honored to be guest-posting for Divya, one of my favorite bloggers
and friends. I am also very excited as this this my first ever guest post! Thanks so much
Divya, for giving me this opportunity to share a recipe, connect with the readers of
asycooking. !h! I think I forgot to introduce myself first - This is "uma, I blog at #akes
$nd %ore ,a blog which is basically about baking, some desserts and a bit of traditional
cooking thrown in as well. &ike most of us, I am obsessed with food, baking particularly.
I started writing my blog when I was making all of ' desserts and baking ( ) ' cakes
which summed up my baking world, hence had given my blog the name.
*ow after ' years, along with a couple of other new things, yeast is my new, big time,
growing obsession. I am discovering how magical, rewarding and satisfying, not to
mention delicious, baking bread at home can be. +ut then, I can be really la,y at times.
+ut again, good food, and good food in a hurry, is a bare necessity of life! *o knead
breads come as a savior as they can be put together with minimum fuss and effort. $nd
your home will be smelling of freshly baked bread in no time at all. Its even more fun as
you could play around with the recipe and create breads with different flavors.

The flat bread or focaccia here is one which I have previously made a few times. $
versatile recipe, this can be made with the flavors of coconut and lime ,-ust some Italian
herbs and garlic or with a couple of tablespoons of tomato puree, chopped fresh coriander
and green chillies if that is your flavor. !r even sun dried tomatoes or -alapenos or olives
if you love them. %ade with -ust some herbs or with the additions, this will taste good. I
must repeat, at the cost of boring you, breads are versatile and baking with yeast gives a
very different high altogether. $ high every home baker must absolutely experience...
.ere is another variation with roasted garlic and cheese, #heese and /arlic focaccia
from the 0ing $rthur 1lour site, a site I love for all their fabulous recipes, reviews and
very useful tips. This is a variation of the *o fuss 1ocaccia .The idea is a mildly
garlicky, soft, slightly chewy, herbed flat bread with bits of cheese in between bites. I
have added a bit of pi,,a sauce to the batter to give it a hint of tomato and pi,,a flavor of
course 2doesn3t taste the same as pi,,a though4. 5ou could omit the sauce and use the rest
of the ingredients if you wish it to be tasting only of herbs, cheese and garlic.
This is half the original recipe, which I have baked in a 633 round tin. 5ou normally do not
need to line the tin to bake a focaccia as you want the bottom crust to be crispy. $fter
reading the reviews about the melting cheese making someone3s bread stick to the pan, I
thought its better to line the tin and sacrifice the crispy crust ...for the -oy of getting the
bread out of the tin in its whole..sorry, full glory!
.ere is what we need

Ingredients7
1or the batter
$ll 8urpose flour - 9 9:' cup plus ' tablespoons : '9; grams
<arm water - 9:' cup
8i,,a sauce - ' tablespoons plus ' tablespoons water 2to make a total of 9:( cup li=uid,
please read notes4
Dried thyme 2or your favorite dried herb4 - generous heaped 9:' teaspoon
#hilli flakes - 9 teaspoon or to taste
"alt - ):( tsp
Instant yeast or $ctive dried yeast - 9 9:' teaspoons 2 I use instant4
"ugar - 9:' tsp
!il - 9 9:' T+"8 plus more for greasing the pan
To mix in
>oasted garlic pods - ), medium si,ed 2not more, as yeast doesn3t love too much garlic,
says the 0$1 site4, mashed or chopped fine
%o,,arella cheese, cut into 9:'33 cubes - 9;; grams or more 2I use $mul4 2>ecipe
suggests cheddar, %onterey ?ack or flavored cheddar4
1or the topping
!il - 9 9:' teaspoons 2I used olive oil4
%ore dried herbs for topping
+asil leaves - a few
8rocedure7 /rease and line the bottom and sides of a 633 round tin. /rease again. "ift the
flour, salt, chilli flakes and dried thyme to mix well. 0eep aside. In a large bowl, take the
sugar and the yeast. $dd the warm water 2 If using active dried yeast, you would need to
proof it first using the warm water, yeast and sugar, let it stand for about @-9; minutes till
frothy and then proceed with the next step4. $dd the sauce mixed with water and the oil.
%ix. Tip in the flour mixture . "tir with a wooden spoon till all the flour is incorporated.
Then beat '; times with the spoon. The batter will be sticky. %ix in the chopped garlic
and the cheese cubes. Transfer the batter to the greased tin. 8ush gently with greased
hands to cover the entire pan. "pread some oil lightly over the surface. Dimple the dough
with your fingers. #over with a greased aluminum foil and let rise in a warm place for an
hour. The dough will be puffy 2not necessarily double the volume4 at the end of one hour.
Towards the end of the rise period, pre-heat oven to 96; degrees # : )A@ degrees 1.
Dri,,le oil on top. >emove the foil, sprinkle the herbs and the basil leaves. I do not think
it would be a good idea to top with cheese as it will get almost burnt by the time it bakes.
+ake for )@ -(; minutes or till light golden brown on top. The bread will not brown a lot
as there is very little sugar in the batter. The bottom should sound hollow when tapped. It
should read between ';;-'9;1 on an instant read thermometer. #ool on the wire rack in
the pan for 9; minutes, then remove from the pan, place on the rack and cool further.
"lice when it is still a bit warm 2not when hot4. 5ou do want to eat the bread when the
cheese is still a bit gooey rightB It doesn3t taste all that bad either when its completely
cool too. ver heard of cheese tasting terrible at room temperatureB +ut melting cheese is
something I have no complaints eating whatsoever. .ow about youB

8lease note7 If you not wish to use the sauce, omit it and use water instead. 5ou will be
using a total of ):( cup of water for the entire recipe. Do not add more sauce unless you
want the bread very tangy. Cse good =uality dried herbs for maximum flavor.
!oops! when I introduced myself, I forgot to mention, I do tend to go a bit overboard
when I talk! Thank you for reading my post, hope to see you again! Thanks again Divya,
it was fun doing this post for you!