Focaccia bread

Serves: 4-6

A fabulous artisan like bread anyone can make.
3 cups flour

2 T. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. yeast

1 2/3 cups warm water

In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients together, until moistened. It will be a very soft dough.  Cover tightly and let sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours.

Then pour the bread onto a greased baking sheet and carefully spread it out, without disturbing it too much. Drizzle with olive oil and toppings -- basil, coarse salt, and/or fresh Parmesan. Let rise for 15 to 20 minutes and then bake at 450 for 18 minutes.

Tips:

-the bread will stick unless the pan is sprayed really well. Coating the pan with cornmeal also helped.

-trying to do it quickly (in about a hour or two) makes a warm bread but nothing like the the really good bread that comes from sitting for 12-24 hours.

-it only takes a few minutes to mix it up the night before or in the morning and then it can just be forgotten about until it is ready to bake for dinner.

-when it is time to bake the bread, turn on the oven to preheat while putting the bread on the pan and letting it raise. By the time the oven is preheated the bread will be ready to bake.

To make a focaccia bread mix:

Put the dry ingredients in a bag or container and attach the rest of the recipe.