Yeah, you know what I mean!
BREAD!
This means once a month I am going to try a new bread recipe. Like my pie challenge, I'm not a true nube to bread making. I make Challah, Bialy and on occasion, pizza. But mostly I make Challah. Typically I do it Thursday night and let it do its second rise in my second fridge. When I escape work Friday, I do not open my garage door and promptly slip into the suburban mom uniform (yoga pants and a cotton T while holding a Starbucks/red wine).
I put my pizza stone in the oven and start preheating.
And when its all in the oven....then I put on those yoga pants. They're just so comfy!
As awesome as my Challah is, I'm well aware that I am still just making beginner stuff. I wanted a challenge again. Making pies was like doing a half marathon. Bread making will be like a full marathon. Except with a stand mixer and wearing Danskos clogs.
To get ready for this crazy project, I attempted to plan ahead. When I was at my in-laws during winter break I dug through my mother in-laws cookbooks. She has four shelves of cookbooks. Two books deep. I found several books and then I started read. Then I started to freak. What is a biga anyways? A poolish? Ferment? Sponge? Starter?
Wednesday Thursday Friday! (WTF)
What did I get myself into? I decided to be kind with myself and start with something my level and move from there.
Recipe:
Eat Well Baguettes
I didn't have fancy baguette pans. So like any good Occupational Therapist, I made them out of whatever was nearby: aluminum foil. Not just for tin foil hats anymore folks! I shaped them and placed it on a piece of parchment paper for easy sliding on the pizza stone later.
They worked.
Sorta.
Here are my baguettes after its second rise before I slashed them.
I go to slide the production onto the pizza stone and the baguette in the back tumbles onto the lower rack of my oven. Eek! I rescue it, figuring it just has a more rustic look.
Here is how they looked after baking:
Funny thing is you can tell the one on the left looks a better than the other two, even though it took a tumble.
The problem with my homemade pan? I didn't spray them or sprinkle them with flour or line them with parchment paper. They stuck to the bread. I had to peel the foil off the bread like those annoying wrappers that encase laffy taffy candies.
I'm buying a real baguette pan next time.
I ate some bread straight out of the oven with a wee bit of butter. They were great! Then I used it to make meatball subs for dinner. My oldest child loves meatball subs.
Now I can make a sub sandwich 500 times better than Subway.
Now Bake That!
