Focaccia Bread and Grilled Chicken Focaccia Sandwiches

It was just another one of those thoughts. We love grilled sandwiches made with focaccia bread but I had never made the bread myself and the thought crossed my mind yesterday, "I wonder if I could make focaccia bread?"
I don't know why I even ask myself that when I know it is just a matter of looking it up and doing it. So here is the focaccia bread and it was quite simple to make as well though there might be a few things I would change next time. This makes 2 loaves.

Bread:
5 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 Tablespoons active dry yeast
2 tsp. garlic powder (one of the changes I would make next time is to use minced garlic. I just think it tastes better.)
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried basil
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups warm water
a good pinch of black pepper

Topping:
some olive oil (just to brush on top)
Parmesan cheese (enough for a light sprinkle on top)
mozzarella cheese (enough for a light sprinkling on top)

In a large bowl stir together well all ingredients for the bread group. When dough forms (use hands) turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a bowl and place dough in it, turn to coat top. Place in a warm place with a towel over it and allow to rise 20 minutes.
Punch down.

Spread dough on a greased cookie sheet to about 1/2 inch thick. (Be careful to get it as even as possible. Thin spots will be hard to cut later.).

You then brush over the top of both with olive oil, sprinkle with Parmesan and mozzarella. Bake in a preheated 450 degree oven for 20 minutes (this brings us to another thing I would change. The bottom of the bread was very brown and a bit hard. I believe I would drop the temperature down some next time and also make sure there was a pan of water under the bread).



Now for the sandwiches:

Allow your bread to cool, then cut it into 9 pieces. Cut each piece through the middle. You now have the top and bottom of the sandwiches. Set aside. Take our your lovely grill that your sister-in-law gave you. Ok, I took out mine anyway. Any grill of this sort will do. Take out the chicken breasts from the chicken you butchered last Sunday :) Sprinkle them with your dried rosemary and grill until done.

They smell so wonderful! Now cut them up into small cubes. Put just enough on a bottom piece of focaccia bread so that you can get a bit of chicken with each bite. On top of the chicken put a piece or two of your favorite cheese. I used one piece of swiss and one of provolone. On top of the cheese drizzle your favorite salad dressing. I used ranch on some and Ceasar on others. Now put them back on your grill and cook until the cheese melts and the sandwich sticks together.