A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about loving the new cookbook Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. Well, I take it back. Yes, the bread is easy and doesn't take too long, but the texture of the loaves doesn't seem quite right to me, so I've sent that book back to the library and gone back to my old ways.
Being an all-or-nothing girl, I decided to undertake a much lengthier bread process and finally try making baguettes. I've never made a baguette, but it has been on my list of things to try for about three years. I've had a recipe from the King Arthur's Flour baking book ready and the Other One even surprised me with a perforated baguette pan the other day, so the stars were aligning.
I started out by making "poolish" the night before I planned to bake, which is a funny word for flour, yeast and water that you mix and let sit for 12 hours or overnight, whichever comes first.
Then I mixed the poolish with some more flour, yeast, salt and water, and let the dough rest for another 2 hours. Next, I divided the dough into 3 logs and let them rest for 20 minutes. Then it was time to shape them into baguettes, put them in the perforated baguette pan and let the dough rise again, this time for 40 minutes.
Finally, the baguettes were ready for a 20-minute stay in the oven. After cooling, they were ready to eat – about 24 hours after the whole process started with poolish.
It was well worth it though, because hot damn! That was good bread. And those baguette experiments are only going to get better from here. Next from the baking book? Ciabatta.
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