Focaccia Bread

I was looking for something new to bake and chance upon a recipe for the Focaccia Bread.

It is an Italian bread. There are various variants, slight variations to the olive oil content and to the flavourings or toppings. You could use Focaccia Bread as a pizza base, eat it on its own or use it for sandwiches. You can top it with cheese too.

The recipe that I am using is oily but with the heavy use of the olive oil you do get a very tasty crust. I did some amendments to the amount of olive oil and to the herbs that I use, as we practically could not find these fresh herbs here in Malaysia, especially in Alor Setar.

Focaccia Bread Recipe

Ingredients

300 gm bread flour

1tsp salt

1 tsp yeast

½ tabsp  sugar

2 tabsp extra virgin olive oil plus 1 tabsp herb oil (instead of 3 tabsp olive oil)

200 ml water

Olive oil for greasing your tray

Herb Oil  

2 ½ tabsp extra virgin olive oil (1 ½ for spreading on top of the dough before baking)

2 tsp dried herbs (plump the herbs in a little hot water)

(I used mixed dried herbs which consisted of mixture of Oregano, Rosemary, Sage,      

Thyme, Basil, Savory and Majoram, bought all packed in a bottle from the supermarket)

2 tsp freshly ground/pressed garlic

 

Preparation

1.   As usual I prepare a yeast starter dough, using 50 ml warm water, 1 tsp yeast and ½

      tabsp sugar. Let the yeast mixture rise for 10-20 mins.

2.   Mix together the bread flour and salt.

3.   Mix together the herb oil (heated to 100 deg. C) and add 1 tabsp to the flour.

4.   Add another 2 tabsp of extra virgin olive oil to the flour mixture.

5.   Add starter dough to the flour mixture.

6.   Add the balance of water. Leave some and check that it is pliable and of the right consistency.

7.   Knead well for about 10 mins.

8.   Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place for 1 hr. or double tin size. 

9.   Liberally oil a baking tray with olive oil (about 1 tabsp)

10. Punch down the dough to knock down the air and spread it out on the baking tray.
      Press out but do not pull too much.

 

11. Cover and let rise again till double in size.

12. Preheat the oven to 425 deg. Depending on your oven, or tray(s) and if

      you prefer something really crispy, you could even try for 450 deg. This would

      also depend on the thickness of your dough. I prefer mine, crisp on the outside and

      soft on the inside, besides with my tray of diameter 9 inches, the dough is not spread

      thin. Just the way I like it.

13. While preheating the oven, use your finger to poke the dough to make regular, little holes.

14. Liberally spread herb oil on the dough.

15. Bake for 20 to 25 mins. till golden brown. (depending on your tray and oven too).

      Turn your baking tray 180 deg around half time.

16. Cool your Focaccia bread before cutting.

I used a round stainless steel plate, which does not brown as fast as a baking tray, thus calling for some additional time. I like to eat the bread as it is, and it is fabulous.I love it. You could use a 10” x 13” tray. Normally, a rectangular baking tray is used for Focaccia Bread.

Recipe adapted from Michelle, The Brown Eyed Baker

Private Retirement Scheme (PRS)

Unless you belong to the super rich, most of us would welcome an opportunity to further increase their retirement funds.

The Private Retirement Scheme, for any individual was recently launched. It is good for individuals who do not have EPF contributions for their retirement or do not have sufficient funds for their retirement.

The scheme comes under the purview of the Securities Commission. The Capital Market Services Act 2007 (CMSA), the Capital Market Services(Private Retirement Scheme Industry) Regulations 2012 and the PRS Guidelines form the framework governing the PRS Industry in Malaysia.

It is a voluntary investment/savings scheme that would allow employees and the self-employed to save and contribute more toward their retirement nest egg. This is supplementary and additional to the statutory EPF contributions, and will help in enlarging the retirement nest egg, particularly in view of the longer life expectancy and rising cost of living.

The PRS will be available to the public by end of the year.(how about Sept/Oct?)

Contributors/Members

It is available for Malaysians and foreigners 18 years and above.

It is something that employers could use as an incentive to attract and retain talent. Contributions to the PRS are in addition to EPF contributions and tax deductions can be above the 19% tax deductible EPF contributions.

For employees, persuade your kind and understanding bosses to contribute to the scheme…It would work to their benefit too in the longer term besides, they can lay claim to being one of the first to offer such incentives to their employees….

All individuals who invest in a PRS product are entitled to a tax relief of up to RM3, 000 per year. (this will be for 10 years).

Individuals have the option to contribute any amount (although providers may specify a minimum amount) and contributions do not have to be on a fixed basis. No fixed amount, no fixed time interval. However, it is advisable to follow a Ringgit-cost-averaging to smooth out price fluctuations. (meaning, best to contribute on a regular basis).

Members will have to open a PRS account. The account could be opened through your PRS Provider or with PPA. (Private Pension Administrator). You can choose more than one PRS Provider and contribute to more than one fund. The account structure is split into:

 i)                  PRS Account A

with 70% of contributions made and 

The amount accumulated in PRS Account A have to be kept till retirement age or if the member leaves the country permanently

ii)                   PRS Account B

With 30 % of contributions made.

You can only withdraw once a year from PRS Account B and your first withdrawal has to be a year from your first contribution.  How much can you withdraw? Any amount but you will have to pay a penalty tax of 8% on your withdrawals and a fee of RM25 for each withdrawal.

PRS Providers

PRS Providers (Fund management companies) need to get their approval from the Securities Commission to launch their schemes.

AmInvestment Management Sdn Bhd American International Assurance Bhd CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd Hwang Investment Management Bhd          ING Funds Bhd                                    Manulife Unit Trust Bhd Public Mutual Bhd RHB Investment Management Sdn Bhd

these are the 8 currently approved PRS Providers

  

As a start, employees or individuals have a choice of selection of at least 24 conventional/core funds provided by the approved 8 PRS Providers, (investment fund managers) and these would be available to the public from September 2012. These fund providers are licensed and approved by the Securities Commission.

Each PRS provider will provide a range of investment funds for individuals to choose according to their risk appetite, retirement needs and time line.

Each PRS provider will have a minimum 3 core funds catering for growth, moderate and conservative risk profiles.

For feasible reasons and to be pragmatic, PRS providers are permitted under the Securities Commission guidelines, to channel contributions to their existing feeder funds (unit trust funds or investment-linked funds) in the early years. This is during the early stage of development as the fund’s size will take some time to grow to a size where they are able to invest directly in the asset classes.

If a person opens and contributes to a PRS account and has selected his/her PRS provider without indicating his/her investment choice, the default investment choice will be selected for the individual as indicated below:

	Growth Fund	Moderate Fund	Conservative Fund
Age Group	Below 40 years of age	40 – 50 years of age	Above 50 years of Age
Parameters	Maximum 70% Equities Investment outside Malaysia is permitted	Maximum 60% Equities Investment outside Malaysia is permitted	80% in debentures/fixed income instruments of which 20% must be in money market instruments and a maximum of 20% in equity Investment outside Malaysia is not permitted

Source : Private Pension Administrator

The returns from contributions made to PRS are not guaranteed and will depend on the performance of the PRS funds. There are always risks to investments and returns almost always commensurate with risks.

Investment policies of the funds are guided by the PRS Guidelines consistent with prudent spread of risks and to develop a retirement fund. PRS funds can invest directly in real estate, this is unlike unit trusts.

All income received are tax exempted. Switching funds within a PRS Provider is permitted. Change of PRS Provider is subject to terms imposed by the Provider, but experts advise to stay with a provider for a minimum of three years.

The upfront fee for PRS funds is capped at a maximum 3%.

Members’ assets are protected under the controls of an independent trustee company

PRS distributors require approval of the SC to operate and will be subject to on-going regulatory requirements and supervision

 

Private Pension Administrator (PPA)

The Private Pension Administrator (PPA), regulated by the Securities Commission will oversee the PRS providers or fund managers. Its administrative functions would include, taking care of the database, essentially keeping records of all transactions by contributors. Contributors can extend their queries to PPA.

Happy Retirement

I am sure the people at large, are appreciative of this scheme. To ensure the scheme is a success, the interests of members are to be safeguarded. Regulations, adequate guidelines and supervision would ensure the goals and objectives of members are realized. More importantly, those charged with the requisite mandate must always bear in mind the long term objective of members.

To find out more on Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) kindly click on the following links:
 

http://sc.com.my/       or            http://www.ppa.my/