Sourdough Focaccia bread - anytime is a good time · Monday October 5, 2026 by colin newell
Bread making. I grew up with it and it is an activity that has been in my DNA forever. Not only that, bread was something that sustained me through some lean times.
My mom made 4 to 6 loaves a week of yeast based breads and would occasionally dabble in sourdough.
In this recipe, I extol the virtues and joy of making focaccia because it’s easy.
It’s a great utility bread for a lot of meals and it’s virtually impossible to screw up.
Required Babish viewing tutorial below!
I like introducing people to bread making for a variety of reasons. One of which, it’s not rocket science. With a natural yeast starter, bread is no more than flour, water and salt. That’s it. It has been done this way for thousands of years.
As noted above, I think focaccia is a perfect sourdough-bread-baking starting point. It will teach you the fundamentals of working with sourdough without the potentially troublesome steps of shaping, scoring, and baking with Dutch ovens, bread pans and other vessels.
I have completed this recipe around 40 times now so I can attest to the fact that it could be a reliable launch point for your sourdough experience. Or in other words, a way to accumulate bread skills!
The recipe below also can be baked in a loaf pan or a cookie sheet. Over time your skills will improve.
Picture below – what your dough looks like after proofing overnight!
Let’s go! I assume that you have an activated, fed and feisty sourdough starter.
Disclaimer The creation and care of the sourdough starter is beyond the scope of this recipe.
Not sure about your starter? Off to the internets you go!
Sourdough tip – Your sourdough starter is good to go/ready to use if you take a tablespoon of it and drop it in a few inches of water and it floats!
Instructions
1.) Grab a bowl that will hold at least 1/2 kg of dough – that is 500G – so something medium sized.
2.) Add 100g of your ready sourdough starter to the bowl.
3.) Add 8-10g of kosher salt – Using table salt with iodine is not the best. Premium salt equals better results.
4.) Add 360g of warm water (not hot water!) 35 to 45 degrees © or 110 degrees (F) is probably OK but definitely not hotter than that.
5.) Mix the water, salt and starter well.
6.) Gradually add 512g of bread flour. You can use a mixer. I do this by hand or with a bread mixing hook.
Work/knead the dough to form a sticky ball.
Stretch and fold – To develop the gluten in the dough, it is important to stretch and fold the dough twice an hour for the first 2 hours and then once more before putting in the fridge to develop/ferment overnight. There are many awesome YouTube tutorials on the “Stretch and Fold” so find one you like and develop your technique.
7.) You can let this all rise overnight (6 to 12 hours) or slow it down by putting it in the fridge. Fermentation keeps moving along even when your dough is tucked away in a cool area – it changes the flavour some. For keeping the focaccia dough “feisty” I tend to keep it out in the kitchen and work around its schedule.
Rule: Higher room temperature, faster “development” and fermentation of the dough.
8.) Assuming you are doing this overnight, in the morning pull out the dough and give it a few pulls and folds – consult the YouTube video below for some technique-tips (way easier than me trying to explain it!)
Picture above After raising overnight – should look like the above picture.
9.) Get the slightly deflated dough into a bowl with some olive oil (on top and on the bottom…) – it inhibits sticking.
10.) Let rise for 4 – 6 hours. Get out a cookie sheet or deep dish pizza pan (the square of rectangular type…)
11.) Olive Oil the pan “generously” – you need a good continuous coating on the bottom of the pan.
12. ) Transfer the dough into the pan. Cover and “2nd rise” for 4 to 6 hours.
Picture Below – What your 2nd-Raised dough should look like before tossing into the oven. There is some “technique” here but basically, you want to use your fingertip to “Pilsbury Doughboy” (poke) the proofed dough in 12 to 16 spots (the divets) that end up as a place for olive oil drizzle to settle – as well as giving it that signature Italian bread look.
Tip You know the dough has been proofed enough when you press it with your finger and it kind of bounces back by about 75%.
13.) Prior to putting the proofed bread into the oven, garnish with fresh rosemary and a good drizzle of olive oil and artisanal salt – even coarse kosher salt is fine.
14.) Bake for 24 minutes at 450 degrees (F) or until delightfully brown on top. Turn onto drying rack for, at least, 30 minutes or more before cutting — I know, it is tempting to try cutting it when it is right out of the oven. Don’t do it!
Reveal!
- This bread is perfect with any meal – it does not need butter as it is infused with olive oil. It reheats well in the microwave prior to serving. It can also be served with a balsamic vinegar dip or any imaginable spread you can concoct.
Remember: It is perfect all by itself.
It is crunchy, chewy, nutritious and tasty… and guess what, it’s going to get eaten fast.
One thing to remember
All breads need time to cool – I cannot repeat this enough! So…
Let it cool before cutting!
Listen to me talk about this subject for 4 minutes if that helps!
Talking Sourdough with your host Colin Newell
SourDoughBreadmaking-Audio-MP3.mp3
Colin Newell is a Victoria resident and long time coffee expert – writing on the subject of coffee for over 20 years! His dissertation on this subject can be found over on www.coffeecrew.com – Have any questions on bread-making, coffee, life, the Universe, and everything? Send me an e-mail for goodness sakes!
Victoria P.I. Steele episode #1 · Monday June 1, 2026 by colin newell
It was a regular Friday in the offices of Robert Steele when the phone rang.
I grabbed the handset out of the cradle, like a James Bay seal reaching for a tourist treat at Fishermans wharf..
The name is Robert – I’m a private detective with the firm Steele-Wall down on Fisgard in sunny Victoria.
My long time partner, Jimmy Wall met his fate on Fan Tan Alley one cold December afternoon… as of yet unsolved… and that is a story for another day… I digress…
So his name remains on my office door… as something of a promise of what you will run into… if you ever cross me.
Judging by the voice on the other end of the blower, I knew I had a live wire. She spat her words out like a pro-wrestler on a Saturday afternoon, which was odd. It was Friday. Friday, high noon.
It seems one of her favorite cafe’s had just dumped their quality single origin beans for some johnny-come-lately discount brew and, don’t tell me let me guess, the drinks are the same price.
Yea, this was a clear case of brew and gouge. I hate it when that happens. I hate it when the phone rings and there is an angry client on the other end of the chatterbox. I hate stomach aches and today I was cooking up an Olympic gold medal.
Like a dozen clown detectives packed into a Volkswagen beetle, I managed to squeeze a few words in edgewise..
“So let’s take it from the top shall we?” I coached.
Catrina Bell, or “Cat” as she is known down on Fisgard, works as the executive legal assistant with the Crown attorneys office and Cat’s no slouch. She knows a bad fish when she smells one so she knew who to call.. and looking at at my empty work calendar, I knew my day was looking up.
“Ah, Mister Steele, is this you?”
“Ma’am”, I mumbled between gritted teeth… “It sure is. What seems to be your beef? “
“I was down at the Matrix today, you know the cafe down between Wharf and Sunset?”
“Yes, Ma’am… the one between Jimmy’s Pawn and Leo’s Bar n Grill?”
“Yea, that’s the one… I go there, like, every day without fail and…”
“well, you know how it is. They get you all jazzed up on great coffee, all tasty and perfect, and…”
“Please continue…” I encouraged while peeking at my Hamilton watch.
“Well, I was in for my usual flat white and… well and… well and….”
Just then the scent of spicy ginger beef drifted through my open upstairs office window one measly half block from Don Mee’s and yet it might as well been miles away. I wasn’t going anywhere this afternoon.
By now I was furious (and hungry) as I snubbed out a virtual Marlboro into an imaginary ash-tray next to my Olivetti.
“Here’s the way it is Catrina. There are two kinds of people out there – The good people: that’s you and the men and women in your office – you know and trust.
And then there are the coffee people: the bad people, looking for every opportunity to screw with the general public. That is where I come in.
When my phone rings, it is like the sound of a crying baby. And lately, I have been getting a crib full.”
My job never ends. Coffee cop and private detective. It is a thankless one and the pay is crap. But sometimes on a sunny day, when the wind is blowing in the right direction and things are going my way, I can sit in the corner cafe and everything is okay. The brew is hot like the pavement over Douglas and Yates on an August night…. until the phone rings…
“Mr. Steele, ah… Mr. Steele….Hello? Are you still there?”
I snapped out of my narcissistic reverie long enough to realize that I was still on the phone…
“Their americanos were just so perfect.. crema like butterscotch churned by angels.. and now… and now it’s…
“Go on, Miss C.. and don’t let me interrupt…”
“The coffee is like a double-double Tim Horton’s that has been forgotten in the back-seat of a Pontiac Acadian, left overnight in the strip mall and allowed to bake in the heat of the day…”
“Cat, I get your vibe, and it pains me to know that every day in this sleepy little town, there is one more coffee crime going down…Now you relax and let Mr. Steele take it from here.”
As she hung up the phone and I tapped another pretend Marlboro out of my near-empty deck of phantom smokes, I realized one thing …Damn, I need a coffee!
Detective Robert Steele is the sole proprietor of Steele-Wall a private investigation firm keeping a handle on caffeinated crimes and general mischief in the sleepy little town of Victoria.
Colin Newell, author of the coffeecrew blog once helped write an episode of C.S.I. Las Vegas (Season 3 – Episode Last Laugh) – since then, pretty much everything has gone to his head.
2025-The year in review · Monday December 29, 2025 by colin newell
Hey, hey! 2025 is almost done – and what do we have to show for it?
A.I. has taken over most aspects of our lives (apart from this one which is still occasionally tapped out by a human…)
Travel has become as unromantic as possible – hence I rarely travel much beyond the family room…
And flying? Well, I fly my Canadian flag with pride when the wind is gusting under 125 km/hr.
Truthfully, the last year or so I have been in Hamilton, Ontario and Calgary, Alberta.
Photo above: Coffee. Yes, it is still a thing for me!
2025 was a great year for in home cooking and broadening our culinary chops without broadening our waists.
2025 marks almost 2 years retired after 35 years + working at the local University in I.T. and tech – hardware and software support.
That old adage: “I don’t know where I found the time to work before has never been more true. I really believe that this is the most meaningful time of my life and I am happier than when I was carefree and 11 years old. Seriously.
Stuff – I do committee work with the municipality of Saanich… a couple of things… keeping me engaged… on the edge… sharp… where I gotta be…
After 16 or 17 years raising funds for Movember, I have moved onto a much more local project: The Island Prostate Cancer resource center. A great cause for men facing cancer and their families that find value in this great resource.
Music: I have been playing guitar and piano since the 1970’s – my debut album was in 2008 and that is increasingly feeling like a long time ago! Now I play around 1 hour a day – I collaborate with a few other players to make some noise with. Am I thinking long term? No, not at all.
Radio stuff: I am still doing ham radio as well as technical projects that revolve around “amateur” radio – like project building and supporting our radio community locally, regionally and internationally…
Coffee – As one of the (maybe former) authorities on the subject of cafe culture, home and office coffee and espresso based goodness… I am still picking away at my coffee project that started in 1994 — now known as CoffeeCrew.comCheck in…
Is there anyone out there? I genuinely do not hear much from anyone via this blog. It is entirely possible that I am talking to a brick wall… or a dry wall… or a wailing wall. You can send us a shout over here – anyone locally that sends me a shout, I will buy a coffee and treat – and we can talk about whatever comes up.
Colin Newell is a Victoria resident and has been writing about the subject of coffee and pop culture since the beginning of internet time…
Two tunes by Saanich vocal superstar Jeff Albert…
As we approach September, some ideas... · Saturday August 23, 2025 by colin newell
For those just joining us… hello. For those here for the first time or dropping in after a long time… Hola! Good day.
Looking at the stats for this blog, I see a lot of visitors… but I don’t get a lot of feedback.
I’d love some feedback. I have some ideas I am cooking up for the Fall.
One is a radio show. Yep. A new medium… or is it an old medium?
Either way. Yea. And it will be paralleled with a podcast.
But what are we up to? That is going to be the subject of some up and coming posts.
Stay tuned.
If you are a regular here, please send me a note via this easy contact page.
