Olive-Red Pepper Focaccia

I'm leaving for my flight to Taiwan in 11 hours!! I'm super excited for my trip, and I hope to buy lots of things and meet many people there. I've been accepted to a cultural learning program (we're learning about the Hakka culture). I don't have much to say other than I hope I get to buy everything on my shopping list!

Below is a recipe for Olive-Red Pepper Focaccia; I'm not Italian (not even close!) but it tasted pretty darn good. The recipe is from one of my cookbooks (Land O'Lakes Baking) but I changed it up a bit.

According to Wikipedia (yay) Focaccia is a flat oven-baked Italian bread, typically seasoned with herbs and olive oil, and topped with whatever the heck you feel like topping it with. In this case, I had olives and red-pepper on hand, so I just chopped some up and threw it onto the Focaccia. Focaccia can be used as a base for a pizza, sandwich bread, or a side dish. Good luck with baking, I won't be back for a month! :]

Olive-Red Pepper Focaccia

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 ¼ cups bread flour
  
• 2 ½ tsp active dry yeast
  
• 1 cup water
  
• 3 tbs butter (reserve ½ tbs)
  
• 2 tsp minced garlic
  
• ¼ of a red bell pepper
  
• 7-8 small canned olives
  
• 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese

1. Combine the yeast, sugar, and water in a bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes.
   
2. Sift the all-purpose and bread flour into another bowl.
   
3. Make a well in the flour, and pour the yeast-water mixture into the middle. Stir with a wooden spoon.
   
4. Heat 2 ½ tbs of butter and the garlic in the microwave for 30 seconds, then knead into the dough.
   
5. Place the dough in a bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Let rise for 50-60 minutes.
   
6. Punch the dough down, and then knead for 2-3 minutes. Roll out into a circle about 1-inch think.
   
7. Place this dough on a greased pizza pan or jelly roll pan. Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise for 30-40 minutes.
   
8. Slice the red bell pepper into thin strips and the small olives into little circles of desired thickness.
   
9. Poke holes halfway into the dough every two inches. Stuff a little bit of cheese into each indentation.
   
10. Brush the dough with the reserved ½ tbs of melted butter.
11. Scatter the red pepper and olives throughout the dough. Then top it with the remaining cheese.
    
12. Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Bake for 20-25 minutes on the middle rack of the oven. (Check after 20 minutes to see if the crust is browned.)