James McNair, one of America's most prolific cookbook authors, is also the food spokesperson for Sutter Home Winery of St. Helena in California's Napa Valley. With The Sutter Home Napa Valley Cookbook, he joins those two activities, bringing to a wider audience the delightful marriage of good food and good wine that has become so much a part of wine-country life in California.
Americans have come to identify all Italian flat breads or hearth breads, other than pizza, as focaccia a Liguarian term. Tuscans, however, call their regional flat bread schiacciata, including this one, which is traditionally made in the Chianti region to celebrate the grape harvest. Since Napa Valley and Chianti are similar in so many ways, it seems appropriate that this slightly sweet bread now makes an appearance in the valley each autumn.
Enjoy this flat bread with lunch or as an afternoon treat with a glass of wine, but be sure to save some for breakfast.
Suggested Wine: Pinot Noir
Servings: 8
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons (1 packet or 1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup olive oil
Olive oil for brushing
3 cups seeded wine grapes or seedless grapes
Sugar for sprinkling, preferably large crystals
In a small bowl. dissolve 1 tablespoon of the sugar in 1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees F). Sprinkle the yeast over the water. stir to dissolve, and let stand until soft and foamy, about 5 minutes. (Discard the mixture and start over with fresh yeast if bubbles have not formed within 10 minutes.)
In the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with a flat beater. combine 3 cups of the flour. the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar. and the salt. Mix at the lowest speed for a few seconds. Add the 1/4 cup oil and the yeast mixture and continue to mix at the same speed for about 1 minute. Replace the flat beater with the dough hook and knead at medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Pinch off a piece of dough and feel it. If it is sticky, continue kneading while gradually adding just enough of the remaining 1/4 cup flour for the dough to lose its stickiness. If the dough is dry and crumbly, add warm water. a tablespoon at a time, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Using a pastry brush, generously grease a large bowl with oil. Shape the dough into a ball, place it in the bowl, and turn to coat all over with oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap to prevent moisture loss and set aside in a warm, draft-free place for the dough to rise until tripled in bulk, about 2 1/2 hours if using quick-rising yeast, or about 3 hours if using regular yeast.
Meanwhile, to prepare the grapes, preheat an oven to 250 degrees F.
Place the grapes in a single layer in a baking pan, transfer to the oven, and bake just until the grapes are hot and juicy, 15 to 20 minutes; do not allow the grapes to pop open. Transfer the pan to a work surface to cool.
Generously brush a baking sheet with oil. Punch down the dough, then divide it into 2 equal pieces. Form 1 piece into a flat disk and place it in the center of the prepared baking sheet. Using your finger-tips, and pulling and stretching with your hands as needed, spread the dough into a round about 12 inches in diameter, it may be springy and a bit difficult to spread. Spoon about one-half of the grapes over the dough, spreading evenly, then press the grapes into the dough with your finger-tips. Sprinkle the grapes with about 1 tablespoon sugar.
Form the remaining piece of dough into a disk and place it on a lightly floured work surface. Pull and stretch it into a 12-inch round in the same manner. Place it over the grape-studded dough and press around the edges with your fingertips to adhere the 2 pieces of dough together. Scatter the remaining grapes over the top and press them in gently with your fingertips. Brush the dough all over with oil. Sprinkle generously with sugar. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until puffy, 30 to 45 minutes if using quick-rising yeast, or 45 minutes to 1 hour if using regular yeast.
Position racks so that the bread will bake in the middle of an oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Bake the flat bread until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. If the bread puffs up during baking, prick it with a wooden skewer to release air.
Remove the flat bread to a wire rack to cool for about 15 minutes.
Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.
