Blueberry Week

I've been seeing blueberries everywhere lately. My sister has a blueberry bush in her yard. My parents have wild blueberries, raspberries and blackberries growing out behind their house. My neighbor has blueberry bushes in her yard, too. I know there must be some blueberries growing out in the forest behind our house because I'm constantly finding purple bird poop on my front porch. Luckily, I managed to find blueberries fairly inexpensively at my local Martin's grocery store. That's how I decided that it should be blueberry week here at my blog~ Oh, that and I found zounds of great blueberry recipes in the July 7, 2009 Women's Day Magazine! Most of these recipes are coming from that magazine. I have actually made most of them or plan to make them very soon. I really hope to bake the blueberry scones before I get the recipe posted. They sound so yummy to me. The recipe I have for you today is Blueberry Focaccia. It sounded so interesting and delicous that I absolutely had to try it. Admittedly, I am not the best with yeast but I tried it anyway. I found out that this particular bread doesn't require any fancy work with the yeast. It was quite simple. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. I never heard of Blueberry Focaccia before so it is something different.

I also managed to take a few decent pictures of the focaccia before and after baking it.

I hope you try this and let me know how you like it, if you do.

BLUEBERRY FOCACCIA

Serves 12
Active: 20 Mins.
Total: 2 hrs (includes rising)

½ cup sugar
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
3 to 3-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 packet (1/4 oz) rapid rise active dry yeast
¾ tsp salt
1-1/4cups whole milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
½ stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups blueberries

1. Pulse sugar and lemon zest in food processor until zest is finely ground and incorporated into the sugar. In a large bowl, whisk 1/3 cup of the lemon sugar, 3 cups of the flour, the yeast and salt until blended.

2. Heat milk in a 2-cup measure in microwave on high 1-1/2 minutes, or until temperature registers 130 degrees Fahrenheit on an instant –read thermometer; add to flour mixture with egg and butter. Mix with a rubber spatula until a soft, sticky dough forms; scrape dough onto a floured surface. Using a dough scraper to assist, knead with some of the remaining ½ cup flour to form a smooth and pliable dough, about 2 minutes. Cover the dough with the mixing bowl; let rest 10 minutes.

3. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide dough in half. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, stretch and pat out on parchment into 12-in. free-form rectangle, about ¼ in. thick. Scatter with half the blueberries and half of the remaining lemon sugar. On a floured surface, pat out and stretch remaining dough slightly larger than the first piece and place over bottom dough. Press edges together and tuck under loaf. Cover with a sheet of greased plastic wrap. Place baking sheet in a warm area. Let rise 1 hour.

4. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, with floured fingers, dimple surface of loaf (pierce any bubbling with a knife tip to release air pockets). Scatter top of loaf with remaining blueberries and lemon sugar. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Slide focaccia onto a wire rack and cool slightly. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook