When she was the pastry chef at New York Metropolis’s Gramercy Tavern, Claudia Fleming created a “Between Meals” menu that showcased each her candy and savory recipes. Her secret to creating focaccia that is tender and delicate with an excellent crust is permitting the dough to rise slowly in a cool place away from the oven.

How one can caramelize onions

Golden, superbly caramelized onions are usually not troublesome to attain, however do require a little bit of endurance. Right here, you will begin by thinly slicing a big Spanish onion — purpose for a couple of 1/4-inch thickness, maintaining the slices as uniform as potential to encourage even cooking. Then, warmth the oil in a big skillet over medium warmth and add the onion, water, thyme, and salt as instructed in Step 6. Let the onion cook dinner for a couple of minutes, then cut back the warmth to medium-low and proceed cooking, stirring sometimes. Because it reduces in quantity, scrape the onion right into a kind of flat patty within the heart of the pan to stop scorched edges.

If the onion begins to stay to the underside of the pan, or if the fond on the underside of the pan darkens extra rapidly than the onion, add a splash extra of water, stirring and scraping any browned bits and repeating as obligatory. The entire course of ought to take between 40 minutes and an hour; as soon as the onion is golden brown all through, take away it from the warmth.

Notes from the Meals & Wine Check Kitchen

• Use a mandoline or sharp knife to slice the potatoes thinly (about 1/8-inch thick) to make sure they cook dinner evenly and turn into tender throughout baking.
• For the crispiest crust, enable the oven and baking stone a full half-hour to preheat.
• After baking, take away the focaccia from the pan and place any that aren’t instantly being served on a wire rack to chill — this may forestall the bottoms from changing into soggy.

Steered pairing

A light-weight, fruity purple, comparable to Dolcetto, accents each the sweetness and the tang of this dish.