This rosemary focaccia with red grapes and sea salt is ideal for all the Summer picnics! Bake ahead, then enjoy it with a glass of wine and some olives!
Hey there!
Can you believe we are now in June?!? Only few weeks ago I have been going on about what a delightful weather we've been having, and well, it looks like I've jinxed it. The start of Summer is looking a bit more like the beginning of Autumn...
So while we wait for the Summer to come back, I thought I would share this rosemary focaccia recipe with you! That, and some thoughts I've been having recently about the blog, and where am I heading with it... So if you just want the recipe for this delicious, Italian staple, you may want to scroll down now. But if you would like to hear about my thoughts and my doubts, then keep reading!
I have been blogging for about 14 months now. And I'm enjoying it more and more. There is nothing in this world I want more, than to turn my passion into a full-time job, that would also pay the bills. And recently, more and more, I'm feeling an urge to change something, shake things up a bit, and explore some new options and ideas...
Because I'm noticing more and more, that my blogging passion consists of few elements, that individually, are giving me even more joy, than blogging itself. So let me explain...
Firstly, food photography, and photography in general. As you may know, I've started this blog to share some recipes and pictures of them. Because I'm one of these annoying people, who loves taking pictures of food. I've recently attended a workshop, where one of the attendees dropped a phrase: 'camera eats first', and that truly describes my approach! But with time, I'm noticing that just the photography process itself, gives me more joy, than cooking and experimenting with recipes. Don't get me wrong, food is still, and probably always will be, my great passion, but photography is very quickly becoming as great, if not even bigger!
Secondly, food styling. And I'm aware I've still got sooooo much to learn in this area, but again, the process itself, gives me a great deal of joy. Choosing props, fabrics, flowers, and ceramics. Backdrops, colours and shapes... All these things excite me a lot, and quite often I think that soon, we will need a second house, just to accommodate all of my 'treasures'... But I do not have a problem, if anyone asks!
And there is this new urge... the itch to share more... and it's scary...
I want to share with you, what I've learned, noticed, and came across so far, in the blogosphere, that may help you to discover some new passions, or perhaps even to start your own blog! But it's scary as hell, for number of reasons. The main one, being myself. And the fear of failing... Because part of me thinks that I'm not a 'professional' blogger, and I'm not an expert in the area, so I shouldn't really be giving an advice on this subject.
However, there is also that other part, that tells me it's time to came out of the shell, drop the 'newbie' title and the shyness, and just go for it. And if I fail, at least I'm going to know that I've tried! So... I hope you are ready to join me on this journey. And I hope to see you around here in the future! What you can expect, is some more posts about inspiration (just like this one here ), resources (like the one here ) and some other stuff, that hopefully you will find just as useful, as I did.
So to get started, I want to give you the names of few other blogs, which I read and find very helpful. And not all of them are food- related blogs. But all, for sure, are very inspiring, and will teach you something new!
- Adventures in Cooking , stunning food and photography blog by very talented Eva Kosmas Flores, one of my absolute favourites!
- The Little Plantation, by lovely Kimberly Espinel, who I've had a pleasure to meet and learn from. I love Kimberly's style, and it's not a secret, she's a huge inspiration of mine. Her blog is full of beautiful food photography, but she also shares lots of tips and resources about blogging, photography, and styling.
- Jen Carrington, who also has an awesome podcast. Her blog is full of ideas for any online creatives, and I love how she always try to push people to do their best, to the full potential. Great place to make your brain flourish with ideas!
- Blog Tutor, by Andrew Wilder, small, but super helpful blog about highlights and low-lights of running a blog with Word Press. Great tips if you are just getting started, plus some good advice on technical side of running a blog.
- Food Bloggers Central by Nagi Maehashi. Great place for anyone who is starting in food blogging space. Nagi's page is also full of free resources for food bloggers specifically.
Want to know more really inspiring blogs?
Fill in the form below, and receive the bonus list with 15 incredibly inspiring blogs. You will never be stuck for ideas again!
So there you have it! A sample of blogs worth checking out, which I'm more likely to expand in the future again!
Now, let's look at today's recipe for rosemary focaccia!
I'm a massive fan of breads, and can't imagine my life without it. This focaccia bread is relatively easy to make, and the only challenging part is kneading the dough (although, you can use electric mixer, I'm just old- fashioned like that, and prefer to do it by hand). As it can get a bit sticky, make sure you have plenty of flour to dust your hands with! Other than that, it's the easiest bread I've ever made!
Roasted red grapes are great addition, but can be omitted from the recipe, if you prefer. Combination of olive oil, rosemary and sea salt is pretty awesome by itself, but red grapes are adding nice flavour and texture to the focaccia. You can also add fresh grapes, without roasting them first. Either way, this focaccia bread will taste delicious!
As always, let me know what you think in the comments below. And don't forget to subscribe to my email list, to be the first one to receive new recipes and updates!
Talk soon!
xo A.
📖 Recipe
Rosemary focaccia with red grapes
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried active yeast
- 350 ml warm water
- 450 g strong bread flour (plus extra for dusting)
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (plus extra for drizzling)
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 200 g red grapes
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together caster sugar with dried yeast and warm water. Stir it gently and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, cumin, fennel seeds and rosemary. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and and mix together. Add yeast mixture and mix all together with wooden spoon. The dough will be quite sticky, so you may want to add more flour.
- Using your hands (or electric mixer with a hook attachment) knead the dough for about 10 minutes, until smooth. Pour 1 tablespoon olive oil into a clean, large bowl and transfer the dough into it. Cover with a cling film and leave to prove for couple of hours, or until it doubled in size.
- In a mean time, heat the oven to 180 C and place grapes on a baking tray lined up with parchment paper. Drizzle with some olive oil, and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Remove cling film, and scatter some flour on a work surface. Using your hands or rolling pin, stretch out the dough until it's roughly the size of your baking tray. Transfer the dough into baking tray, cover with tea towel and allow to prove for further 30 minutes.
- Gently press baked grapes into the dough, add some rosemary sprigs, drizzle with more olive oil and sprinkle with remaining sea salt. Using fork, or your fingers, make small indentations into the surface of the dough, then bake at 180 C for 25- 30 minutes until golden.
Please note that all my recipes are developed and tested in metric grams. I recommend that you use digital scales for a more accurate results. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Evi @ greenevi says
Oh my goodness, what a gorgeous bread this is! Focaccia is definitely one of my favourite types of bread, especially when it’s made with such delicious things as grapes, rosemary and fennel seeds! Also, your pictures are so pretty and make me so very hungry right now 🙂
And thanks for this list of blogs, can’t wait to check them out!
annabanana says
Thank you so much Evi!
Looks like our taste in breads is also very similar 🙂
I can't wait to start making my own sourdough bread, I think you would also like it, so stay tuned! 😉
And let me know if you get a chance to check the blogs out and what you think of them!
Jo says
Anna, I'm so proud of you and so glad you are going for it!!! I can see great things happening in the future, and I hope that brainstorming the ideas went well? 😉
And the focaccia looks brilliant, love the addition of red grapes!
annabanana says
Thanks so much Jo!
Your support means a world to me, and I'm still brainstorming, I know I want to mix it up a bit but still considering the options... No matter what the future holds, I hope to see you around here ???? and I hope you get to try this focaccia! It's well worth it!
Kimberly/TheLittlePlantation says
Firstly, this recipe looks TOTALLY delicious. I love cookd grapes.
Secondly, I adore how you're putting yourself out there and being open about your food phtography dreams and ambitions. It feels as though you're very much on the right track.
I'd also really like to hear more about the food photography workshop you attended. It sounds fab.
And lastly, soooo chuffed to find my name on this list. So kind of you.
Thank you so much.
Big hug
Kimberly
annabanana says
Kimberly!!!
Your comment just made my day!
Thank YOU for being so inspiring and starting some ideas in my head, that even I didn't know I've had!
And you are reading my mind, I'm currently working on the post on workshops, and why everyone should attend one! Watch this space...
Great seeing you here, and thanks again! Have a great week ahead!
X
Barbara says
I think it's great to spread your wings and just go for it! If you want to share 'non- food' related posts, I say go for it, because at the end of the day, this is your space, so you can do whatever you fancy with it! And we all have more than one interest (as good as food is...), so it's great to see other areas of yours too!
And great tips in this post already! I'm definitely going to check out all these blogs, especially the ones with free resources, as I'm thinking of starting my own blog very soon.
Focaccia looks to die for, BTW!
Thanks Anna, and keep going strong!
annabanana says
Barbara, thank you so much!
That is such a nice comment and so awesome of you to say! It's very encouraging to hear and I'm so happy you are thinking of your own blog! Go for it!!! 🙂
Have a great week ahead lovely lady!!!