Sally Clarke's Book - Rocket & Herb Focaccia

This is a lovely book, although not one that I can see myself using often (anyway, it has to be smuggled back to the mother lode next week). Sally Clarke is the chef-proprietor of the Clarke’s restaurant/bakery/shop in Kensington, and this book presents the restaurant’s lunch, supper, and dinner (yeah, I don’t know what the difference is either) menus way back in 1999. I checked the website, and menus today are the same – lots of delicate vegetables, colourful salads, just a hint of lentilly worthiness - but slightly updated: more red meat, basically (no one’s scared of BSE anymore).

Anyway, this book: at first, it’s off-puttingly cheffy. If people still exist who serve four course dinner parties, and plan the hardest menu they could conceivably pull off, this might appeal. But, otherwise, people are not going to attempt, at home, Roasted Gem Squash with Ceps and White Truffle. Or Grilled Turbot with Potato-Chive Pancake. And not just because buying white truffle and turbot requires a call to Payday Loans (note: never call Payday Loans). It seems that the ultimate result of the decline of this kind of book is Nigella publishing a recipe for Spaghetti with Marmite. Which…sadface. But books like How To Eat (published in 1998), and the Slaters and Olivers which followed, were a brilliant corrective to collections of recipes designed to be made only in gorgeous, expensive restaurants in West London.

But Sally Clarke's Book won me over – it describes how Sally has been pursuing local, seasonal, special ingredients around the UK since 1984, back when that was still unusual. She offered a no-choice menu, back when you’d normally be handed a great long list of set in stone ‘classics’. Simply cooked (by Michelin standards, anyway) food, British cheeses, fruit puddings. All the things we love now she was doing first. So hooray – Sally Clarke’s Book is of no practical use to me at all, but to read it is like hearing someone accurately describe the present from the past. Unusual and charming.

I made a Rocket and Herb Focaccia, because Clarke’s are famous for their baking, and supply half the nicest cafes in London with pastries and sweets. Me and yeasted products do not go way back – I’ve tried breads and buns a few times but they are always a bit hard and unyielding. So I was determined to knead knead knead this one, and I swear I did! The three year old helped and we probably put in 15 minutes between the two of us. But it  was more like a flatbread than a focaccia, albeit one tasty enough to be polished off for lunch between three of us. I saw focaccia being made on the Great British Bake Off last year and the crucial thing was the addition of ludicrous amounts of water to make an almost unworkable dough. Paul Hollywood was very clear that this what was made it focaccia-like. Sally only mentions adding enough water to bring the dough together and, well, here we are.

Rocket and Herb Focaccia

200g strong plain flour
pinch of salt
10g fresh yeast/5g dried yeast (I used one of those 7g sachets)
50 ml olive oil
warm water
1 tsp chopped thyme (or rosemary, dill, sage etc)
1 small bunch of rocket
Maldon salt

Mix the flour and salt together. Blend yeast with a bit of warm water until smooth and add to flour. Add the olive oil, and enough warm water (hmm - add lots) to make a soft dough. Add the thyme.

Knead for hours and hours. Until smooth. 

Put the dough back in the bowl with some oil and cover with clingfilm. Leave for at least 45 minutes (but it will sit for a long time if convenient) until doubled in size.

Remove from bowl and knead again until it’s ‘silky-smooth’ 'again'.  Shape into a bowl and then roll out to 1 cm thickness. Drizzle with olive oil and cover with film. Lave again to rise for 15-20 minutes.

Toss the rocket in oil and press it onto dough with a bit of salt. (The frizzled rocket was DELICIOUS by the way). Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen. Remove from oven and drizzle with oil (or don’t if you’ve made a hard flatbread, it will just run off). Scoff 'cos you’re greedy.