Baguettes
Many moons ago I worked as a cheesemonger for a couple of months. I loved working in this tiny, stinky, and a tad bit crazy shop. We had a huge assortment of cheeses from all over the world. And we cut from the wheel ’cause we were the real deal. No prepackaged cheese here. I felt like a magician behind that counter. It was really easy to wow our customers. I remember trying to convince this one lady to abandon the idea that smoked gouda was a cheese plate staple- not an easy maneuver, I’ll tell you that! To do this, I put a slice of triple crème cheese on a slice of baguette and dolloped a teaspoon’s worth of fig jam over top, then I shoved it into her mouth. She looked at me like I had just pulled a rabbit out of my ass, but in a good way!
What I learned most of all while working there is that good food doesn’t have to be complicated. A European couple came in one afternoon and bought from us a baguette, a smoked sausage, a brie, olives and two lemonades. They then went across the street to the park and had what looked like a lovely picnic.
I know what you are thinking. “Sounds like it was a great place to work, Liz. Why were you there only a few months?” Well, the owner was crazy. I will go into detail about that in future posts if you promise to keep reading my blog. Deal?
The cheeses on this cheese plate are a creamy blue cheese called Saint Agur, a triple cream cheese called Champignon, and an aged gouda called Rembrandt
Okay, so I made a baguette using the Sponge Method. My poor baguette doesn’t look so hot, but it tastes great. It was also a nice dough to work with. Sticky at first, but it slowly transformed into a smooth, elastic, wonder ball while kneading it.
My son helped me knead this one.
After all the rising was done, I began to shape it into what I hoped would resemble a baguette.
First I pressed it into a circle of sorts
Next, I folded the top half down to the middle
After that, I folded the bottom half up-not unlike a letter
Finally, it is rolled into a what should appear to be a baguette. I need more practice.
- 2 1/2 tsp. Dry Yeast
- 1 2/3 cups (375 ml) luke warm Water, about 98 degrees F
- 3 1/2 cups (500 g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. Salt
- Sprinkle the yeast into 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) of the water in a large bowl. Leave for 5 minutes, then stir to dissolve. Mix in half the flour, about 1 3/4 cups (250 g) until it resembles a soft paste. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and let "sponge" until frothy and risen, about 20 minutes.
- Mix together the remaining flour and salt in another bowl, then pour that into the sponge. Add the remaining water, as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, to form a soft, sticky dough.
- Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead until soft, smooth, and supple, about 10 minutes. Try to avoid adding too much extra flour.
- Put the dough in a clean bowl and cover with a damp dish towel. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Punch down, re-cover, and let rise for 45 minutes longer. Punch down again, re-cover and let rise until doubled in size, about another 45 minutes.
- Divide the dough into two equal pieces and shape into two baguettes, each about 12 inches long. Place on a floured baking sheet, cover with a dish towel. Allow dough to rise one last time (proofing the dough) until doubled in size, about 50 minutes.
- Preheat the oven 475 F degrees. Cut several diagonal slashes across the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
- The temperature of the dough is very important in bread baking. During the mixing stage (kneading) be sure to keep the dough at around 75 to 80 degrees F.
