I saw these beautiful concord grapes in the market the other day and I stopped dead in my tracks. I never see concord grapes.  I love the contrast in flavor of concord grapes. The skin is tart but the inside flesh  is super sweet.  I have been hanging onto the thought of making this grape and rosemary focaccia  for some time. The rosemary, no problem as I have an enormous rosemary plant growing in my backyard that is out of control. I should say it’s really a rosemary bush.  In a weird way I’m kind of proud of that rosemary plant as it started out as a tiny plant, and now it has aggressively taken over major real estate in my backyard. Everyone knows I cannot grow anything worth a darn, 🙁  but the exception is my rosemary plant. Quite frankly I don’t even try; it has taken on a life-force of its own. With all the fog here I don’t even water it. That’s why I love it, it’s like the big green monster that self feeds. When you enter the garden it makes a statement. As soon as you get 3 feet from it you can smell the piney fresh scent. This bread is a lovely contrast between sweet and savory. If you can’t find concord grapes you could use black grapes also.

My beloved Rosemary bush-note the white dense sky- San Francisco fog in the background….

concord beauties- once they bake they turn an amazing deep purple color

Concord Grape and Rosemary Focaccia

recipe adapted from Epicurious

3/4 Cup very warm water

1 pkg. active dry yeast

3 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. kosher salt

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil + more for brushing dough

2 1/4 Cup bread flour

one large bunch concord grapes

fresh rosemary

1 Tbsp. granulated sugar

kosher salt or coarse sea salt

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the water, yeast and 1 tsp. sugar and whisk to combine with a hand whisk. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the sugar, salt, olive oil and bread flour and mix with a spatula by hand. Attach the dough hook and on medium high speed knead the dough for about 2 minutes. Oil a large bowl with extra virgin olive oil and turn out the dough into the bowl, turning the dough so it coats all sides with the oil. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise for 20 minutes.

2. Spread olive oil over a large sheet pan. Take the dough and press it into a large rectangle about 1 inch thick. Conversely you can spread the dough into 2 round loaves; cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled about one hour. Brush the dough with olive oil and dimple the dough using your fingertips. Scatter the grapes and rosemary leaves over the dough. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar.

3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Let bread cool about 15 minutes then sprinkle with kosher salt. Serve warm.