Bread baking has been the biggest obsession of this year for me. I am glad that I have tried out several different kinds of bread and I am also glad to be back to baking with this lovely group of bread bakers where one member chooses the theme for the month and the rest of us pick from the multitude of bread recipes that conform to that theme. The theme for the month of October is 'Fall/Autumn Breads' hosted by Wendy Klik who blogs at A Day in the Life on the Farm. This is the part I like best as we have the freedom to select the kind of bread we want to bake. These days I like to bake breads that will my little ones will like. Imagine going through the whole process of bread baking if there are no takers!
Over a period of time I have realised that savoury breads score higher over the sweet ones. I can always use up plain or savoury breads at home as my son likes to take some to school as well so when this month's theme was announced I was hesitant and decided I would wait till the last minute (which I usually never do) and participate in the challenge only if I could manage to find a suitable recipe. I had always wanted to bake a the famous Italian focaccia (pronounced as 'fo-ka-chya'), a flat bread similar to the pizza, seasoned with herbs, salt and olive oil and topped with a variety of toppings such as olives, meats, onions, cheese etc. The bread I have selected today is essentially a focaccia but is called as the Schiacciata Con L'uva (pronounced as 'Skiya-chya-tha Kon-Loova') which is a flatbread topped with grapes. This bread is usually made in Tuscany during the fall (autumn season, around September-October) to use up leftover grapes from the harvest. While small wine grapes are traditionally used here, any grapes work well.
