Whole Wheat Yeastless Focaccia

I suppose I am "Nurse Astra" now, as I graduated last Thursday! The title sounds a bit funny and quaint, rather like the white nursing caps they affixed to our heads as we crossed the auditorium stage on graduation night...

I am quite thankful that nurses don't have to wear a white caps to work anymore, and, even more so, I am grateful I am entering a field blessed with antibiotics, IV infusion pumps, and fetal heart monitors. Our hospitals have navigated a long journey since Florence Nightingale first introduced the "radical" ideas of cleanliness and fresh air, and, while someday far in the future I might even consider penicillin "antiquated," I hope I never forget how fortunate I am to live and work in a time and space where infections can be cured, surgeries performed, diseases prevented, and whole bodies healed. I can only pray that someday I will be able to help - in whatever small way one nurse can - bring health care to corners of the world where antibiotics are still a rare miracle.

In the meantime, though, as I begin applying for jobs, I'm already planning recipes for those nights when I arrive home after a 12 hour shift!

While we still fix "The Daily Foccacia" quite regularly, the other night Zach suggested I come up with a recipe that could be fixed even more expeditiously... A 10 minute focaccia? Clearly, a modified quick bread would have to be employed, with the texture and flavors of focaccia still intact...

The result surprised us with just how perfectly we met our focaccia goals! Complete with a healthful helping of whole wheat flour - a must for any bread prepared on a regular basis in our kitchen - and a quick bread method using beer for its deep flavor and rising abilities, finished with some olive oil and oregano, we had... in our oven... Focaccia! In 10 minutes!

Whole Wheat Yeastless Focaccia

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
2 T raw sugar
1 tsp salt
1 T baking powder
1 (12 oz) bottle dark beer (Guinness is my personal favorite, of course...)
1/4 cup water
3 T olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 tsp oregano (depending on how strong an oregano flavor you prefer)
1/4 tsp salt

~ Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat an 8X8 baking pan with cooking spray.
~ Stir together the flours, raw sugar, 1 tsp salt, and baking powder.
~ Pour in the beer and the water, and stir until just combined.
~ Spread the dough into the baking pan.
~ Drizzle the olive oil across the top of the dough.
~ Sprinkle the dough with the oregano and 1/4 tsp salt.
~ Bake for 30 minutes - until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean.
~ Serve warm, sliced from the pan, and dipped in olive oil and herbs...