Back to basics -- in Surfing and Food. So let's make bread! (okay, Foccacia! Okay, Whole Wheat Focaccia with Tomatoes and Fontina! So It's Kinda Sorta Healthy!)

Sometimes you have to go back to basics in order to step up your game.  You just do.

For instance, I think I've mentioned I harbored, and still harbor, a lot of silly ocean phobias, and in terms of my surf learning I've kind of hit a wall.  I need to really work on truly overcoming these phobias if I want to get better.  A trusted advisor sat me down and really drilled it into my thick head that I must go back to basics -- meaning doing some ocean time without my beloved big green Greco -- swimming, and body surfing, for example, but also just spending some time in the impact zone and really learning when to jump over a wave or dive under one.  The idea here is to get me to realize I can manage these waves just fine.  And it's working.  I've done a couple of these sessions now, and I am making some real progress.

Also, when I think about getting back to basics, my mind turns to bread, because, really, what's more basic and elemental than bread?  (Oh, sorry all gluten-free types and Paleos and no-carbers…this post is definitely not for you!)  Anyway, making bread is all about taking flour, yeast, salt and water, mixing it up (okay in this case also olive oil) and after a little bit of tinkering and waiting you get something delicious.  One day I'd like to tackle more serious bread recipes, but lately I've been into Focaccia because it's a bit less challenging, and recently this recipe in the NY Times food section provided by Martha Rose Schulman caught my eye.  It's a Whole Wheat Focaccia with Tomatoes and Fontina. Here's the link to the recipe, http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/1016687/whole-wheat-focaccia-with-tomatoes-and-fontina.html?smid=pl-share so I'm not going to reprint it.  But you can follow along in the process if you want because it's kind of fun.  There's actually something a little Zen about bread making and it's not as much work as you might think.  For one thing, the Kitchenaid does all the kneading!  (okay, if you don't have a Kitchenaid, you'll get a workout!) Plus, a lot of time is spent just letting dough rise.  In fact I started this dough and then went out to the beach for an ocean session so I didn't even need to be here for part of the process.  Meanwhile, I consider this surf-friendly food because it's portable and cheap and tasty.  Just what you need for the beach, huh?

This recipe also seemed appropriate because we had a bunch of tomatoes ripening all at once. There were beefsteaks, romas, heirlooms and cherry.  I needed a way to use them (I used a bunch earlier in the week to make fresh tomato sauce…next year I might have to learn how to can!)  Anyway, here are the tomatoes just off the vines.

So this recipe begins with making a sponge, which is just yeast, flour and water. Here the things needed are gathered:

As you will see in the recipe, you begin by mixing yeast, warm water and a small amount of flour.  You let it just sit for about 45 minutes.  It should get bubbly, and double in size.  And it will look like this:

See, that was easy.  Next up was dissolving a little more yeast in water, then adding it to the sponge, along with salt, a little olive oil, all-purpose white flour, and some of this, which is different from most focaccia.

Yep, whole wheat flour, which lends a nice nuttiness to the finished product.  Plus, it makes it a little healthier, I think. Now it's kneading time.  Like I said, the Kitchenaid does the work, but if you do it by hand it's great exercise.  Here we go, kneading away.  Wheeeee!

The spinning and kneading goes on for about 8-10 minutes, until the dough is slapping the side of the bowl.  It's still a little sticky but that's cool. This is how the kneaded dough looks:

Plunk it into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let that sucker rise for a while, about one and a half to two hours.  You don't even have to be around for this part.  I went to the beach for a wave-management session.  When I came home it looked like this:

Also, it smells really good.  I like that yeasty smell you get when you make bread. Is that weird?   Anyway, since the link to the recipe is just above, I won't go through the rest of the steps, but here are some pics of the process, first the dough in its pan just before its second short rise, then being topped with tomatoes and fontina, and then the final product, out of the oven and sprinkled with some sliced basil, also from the garden:

Cut it into squares, or rectangles or triangles or whatever shape you want and eat it! We had it with a salad so it made a nice vegetarian dinner. And yeah there were leftovers, which I reheated and had for lunch. Yep, still good.

So the next time you're feeling the need to get back to basics, here's some advice: make bread. Or make Focaccia with Fontina and Tomatoes. You'll be very glad you did.