Homemade Focaccia Recipe

Writing my second cookbook, Banh Mi, which comes out this summer, reminded me how much I love baking bread (in the cookbook I show how to make an authentic Vietnamese baguette). Nothing beats the smell of freshly baked bread right out of your own oven.

Today, I made focaccia, which is an Italian flatbread that I topped with Mediterranean ingredients.  I kept this version very simple by limiting the toppings to only olives and cheddar cheese. It tasted amazing!

Olive Cornbread Recipe

I recently saw on my Facebook page that one of PhamFatale's readers made my jalapeno cornbread, which reminded me that I hadn't made any in a long time. I created a new version using oil-cured black olives and an exquisite extra virgin olive oil from Cloud 9 Orchard.

May Chevallier is a true expert on olive oil and is the owner of a 140-acre ranch in southern Monterey County, where she planted 10, 000 olive trees. She's passionate about her Cloud 9 Orchard EVOO, which has won many prestigious awards. I recently met with May and she educated me about how to discern the quality of olive oil. I learned that too often olive oil is artificially enhanced with chlorophyll for color and synthetic olive flavor. Cloud 9 Orchard is free from any of these adulterations. You can order May's extra virgin olive oil directly from her. You won't be disappointed.