Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Baked Fish and Focaccia

I've been feeling like making bread.  It sort of relaxes me, which doesn't make a WHOLE lot of sense, because I use the bread machine more than half the time (so, not a lot of kneading).  Today I didn't get started in time to do anything other than focaccia.  I used the recipe in my bread machine cookbook, but tried to bake it per Wildly Affordable Organic by Linda Watson.  It was pretty good, but I needed more olive oil on the top (another tablespoon at least - I only used one), and I ended up baking it at 425F for 20 mins.

I also defrosted some white fish (don't remember what kind) and made a marinade similar to the ones in Bikini bootcamp.

Baked White Fish fillets:
three 5 or 6 oz white fish fillets: uh...$5?  I don't remember.

marinade:
1.5 Tbsp olive oil: 0.16
juice of 3 limes: 0.75
juice and zest of 1 very small orange from my tree
1 clove garlic, pressed: 0.05
1.5 Tbsp soy sauce: 0.09
S&P to taste
Total: $6.05 for 3 fillets, or $2.02 per serving.

Mix the marinade ingredients and marinate the fish for 2 hours.  Bake at 425F for about 20 min.


Focaccia:
2 c. whole wheat flour: 0.41
1 3/8 c. bread flour: 0.28
2 Tbsp sugar: 0.05
2 Tbsp dry milk: 0.10
2 tsp salt: 0.02
2 Tbsp olive oil: 0.22
1 3/8 c. water
2 tsp yeast: 0.05

extra flour for kneading: 0.10

Topping:
one clove garlic: 0.05
2 Tbsp olive oil: 0.22
dried basil: 0.02
coarse salt

Total: $1.49 for a very large piece of focaccia.  Probably 16 servings.  $0.09 per serving.

Place ingredients in bread machine pan in order given.  Use "pizza"  setting.  Knead on a floured surface until it springs back at the touch.  Roll/press out like pizza dough onto a piece of parchment paper coated with cooking spray.  Use the end of a wooden spoon to poke holes in the bread every 2 inches.  Cover with a towel and allow to raise until doubled (20 to 60 min).

Saute garlic in olive oil for 30 sec and let cool.  When bread is raised, brush the bread with the oil  using a brush or your fingers.  Sprinkle with basil and salt.

Slide the parchment paper onto the pre-heated pizza stone using a rimless cookie sheet.  Or, just bake it on a cookie sheet.  I baked at 425F for about 20 mins.  One recipe said 450F for 8 mins, the other said 340F for 25-30 min. 

I served this all with a green salad with tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, and goat cheese (balsamic dressing), and some "Texas caviar" from Costco.

2 comments:

Joanne said...

Maybe just the act of knowing that you're making bread relaxes you? Or the knowledge that you'll have something delicious at the end of it? Either way, what a great meal!

Anonymous said...

oh i love the bread! how fun....and i can still see why it relaxes you even though you use the bread maker. maybe it is the smell as it cooks? anyway, have a great day marcia!