Fan-freakin'-tastic Focaccia

Last spring I attempted focaccia for the first time.  I used a recipe I found in Savuer and thought it turned out pretty well.  Given my relative lack of experience working with yeast (I don't count the many times I've dumped all the ingredients into my bread machine as "working" with yeast),  I was really pleased with the results.  But I could see there was room for improvement.  I was a little stingy with the tomatoes and olives, and the sea salt too...   It looked a lot like this:

Fast forward to this summer and my recent wine country excursions and I found myself inspired to try it again.  What was the cause of this inspiration?  A trip here.   This rustic little store down the road from Tra Vigne - still one of my all time favorite restaurants - is a gem.  A crazy hodgepodge of imported Italian treats and unusual condiments, all surrounding a low-slung platform with various size bottles of extra virgin olive oil, produced from olives grown on the property by the family that has owned the business for over thirty years.  I've been dropping in now and then since sometime in the late '90's probably, but this last time they had something new to offer: infused olive oils.  Meyer lemon, chili, Tuscan herb, and more.  I was tempted to grab a small bottle of each (maybe 6 or 7 in all), but I was on a budget and what I really needed was just your basic, delicious extra virgin olive oil.  So I settled for two infused oils: chili (of course), and Tuscan herb.  Oh yeah, and a bottle of aged imported balsamic vinegar.

I used the Tuscan herb oil in the recipe, and added a sprinkling of magic from Whole Spice.  If you haven't been here, go.  If you don't live near enough, I'm sorry because the fun is in getting to pick out your own spices and put them in small bags or jars to take home.  You can order on-line, which is good because you can still get the magic Pizza Blend.  I went tomato crazy and added thinly sliced red onion, and a generous dash of course sea salt.  This focaccia was PERFECT and will definitely become a family favorite - in fact, I may make it again today.