Here comes the last three-day weekend for a while. Traffic has picked up, keiki are back in school, and the lazy days of summer are almost behind you. Whether you stay home and entertain, or meet up with friends and family, there will be food. Inevitably, you will contribute one or more food items to the weekend get-togethers. I used to take a deep breath and plunge into some serious cooking for the Labor Day holiday. Then I realized that I’d feel more like celebrating if there was less labor involved, so I started letting myself off the hook and looking for alternatives.
With the plethora of prepared foods available these days, it’s easy to throw together a meal for entertaining. Take-out deli platters, roasted chickens and ribs, salads, sandwiches, many desserts — easy to procure, though maybe not so easy on the wallet. Also, not very original or exciting. Over the years, I’ve experimented with different group-sized entrees and side dishes. Looking for recipes that could be made in advance, served at room temperature, be cost effective and crowd pleasing — it’s not so easy to have all of these factors in one item. Then, a few years ago, I created what I think fits all of these criteria, and I want to share that recipe with you today.
At almost every gathering, these has been bread. Many forgettable, but still on almost everyone’s plate. Focaccia is an Italian bread that is flattened to a large round or rectangular shape, drizzled with good olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt before baking. My version combines sweet and savory flavors in the toppings. Besides being easy to make and pleasing to the eye, this focaccia will complement a wide range of foods. It’s cost effective, made with readily-available ingredients, and has a little bit of “wow” factor to stand out from the usual, expected offerings. I hope you try it, and have a Happy Un-Labor Day.
Genny’s Grape and Blue Cheese Focaccia
Sweet roasted grapes, savory cheese and aromatic rosemary are a great match in this crowd-sized bread. If you don’t like blue cheese, substitute fresh grated Asiago.
2 tablespoons good extra-virgin olive oil
2 loaves (1 pound each) frozen white bread dough, thawed
1 large bunch red seedless grapes (about 1 to 1 1/2 cups), washed and destemmed
3/4 cup crumbled Blue cheese
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, destemmed
Sea salt
Coat the bottom of a 11-by-17-inch baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Place dough in pan and knead the two loaves together. Press and stretch dough to fill pan evenly. (If dough is resistant to stretching, let it rest a few minutes, then stretch again.) Cover lightly with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until doubled, 45-60 minutes.
Drizzle remaining tablespoon olive oil over dough. Gently press dough all over surface with your fingers, forming dimples. Gently stretch dough to fit corners of baking sheet. Evenly distribute grapes, then blue cheese, then rosemary, over top of dough. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Bake in preheated 400-degree oven until dough is evenly browned on edges and bottom, 35-45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool at room temperature. Cover bread with foil to transport. Before serving, cut bread into small squares or rectangles. Can be served right from baking sheet or gently transferred to a serving platter, being careful not to dislodge grapes.