Concord Grape & Rosemary Focaccia

Every since I started Chef training i’ve been doing a lot more baking.  I never thought of myself to be a baker or a pastry chef by any means.  But there is that “je ne sais quoi” about making your own bread or pastry dough from scratch.

I remember the first time we made bread in class, I was so overjoyed…like weirdly overjoyed.  It was such a great feeling to see such simple ingredients turn into the softest and smoothest dough.  Then once baked it was a beautiful golden colour with air pockets (tunnels) and it smelled heavenly!

I picked up a basket of concord grapes.  I thought they were quite similar to regular grapes that i’ve had before and thought I would make a cake with them.  I tried one and it was quite tart and had seeds as well.  I started to look for recipes for what to do with them and came across one from my favourite blog Smitten Kitchen.  She posted a recipe for a Grape and Rosemary Focaccia and it said I could use Concord Grapes and it was a bread recipe! Win x 2!

This recipe was very easy to follow and so much fun to make. I had the same feeling of excitement when the dough was rising and how soft and smooth it was. Pockets of Extra Virgin Olive Oil on the dough as it was rising, beautiful.

But let me tell you something…de-seeding concord grapes is no fun! they’re tiny, and you need a sharp knife to pick them out.  I cut mine in half then seeded the halves.  Yes, my fingers turned a bit purple!

Scatter your hard work (de-seeded grapes) over the bread, sprinkle the fresh rosemary, coarse sea salt and coarse sugar.  When it’s done, slice it or break it up and make sure you share it!

Please check out Smitten Kitchen, her blog is amazing and inspirational.  I’ve been a fan of her work for years now and have made quite a few of her recipes!