Sicilian No Knead Bread and Foccacia with Pecans, Dried Cherries and Rosemary

     I missed a week of blogging, but not baking.  Last week I made Sicilian No Knead Bread (sourdough version) from a recipe on Breadtopia.  I loved the crunchy sesame seeds all over the loaf.  This was the first time I used my durum flour, and it gave the bread a beautiful golden yellow color.  The bread was moist and had a great chew to it.  I found the bread to be a little flat - it needed just a little bit more salt.  If I am saying it needs salt; it needs salt because I am not a big salt user.

     This week I baked a recipe that a former student posted on my Facebook page. (Thanks Christy!)  I baked http://thecafesucrefarine.blogspot.com/2012/04/focaccia-with-dried-cherries-rosemary.html.  The aroma of this bread was terrific; the scent of rosemary and pecans wafted through the house as it was baking.  The instructions for the recipe were not the best.  It made no mention of when to add the cherries.  I also would not sprinkle the pecans on the top again.  The olive oil did not adhere them to the bread.  We had roasted turkey paninis for lunch today.  I put a smidgen of Boscoli Olive Salad on the sandwich along with some very thinned sliced red onions and a slight dusting of freshly grated asiago.  The combination of the savory with the sweetness of the cherries in the bread was great.
     Olive salad is one of those regional products that I was thrilled to find in Pineville.  You can make your own, but if I can find a really good commercial one, such as Boscoli, I'd just as soon buy it.    Like most New Orleanians, I love muffulettas.  It's one of those things that everyone has their take on.  I think everyone would agree that two key ingredients are the olive salad and the bread. NO, salad olives are not even close to olive salad, and cannot be used in place of it.  And NO, a sub roll doesn't come close.  I'm not a big mortadella fan, so I don't put it on my muffuletta.  I do put lots of thin sliced ham, Genoa and hard salamis, sliced mozzarella and provolone on my muffuletta.  I also like to wrap it in foil and heat it in the oven to the point of the cheeses being all melty, gooey good.  If you're interested in the history of the muffuletta, check out the history of the muffuletta YouTube video.  If you're ever in New Orleans stop by the Central Grocery on Decatur, get a muffaletta, cross the levee to the Moon Walk, pull up a bench, and enjoy your sandwich as you watch the traffic on the river go by.