L'Esperimento Del Pane Francese - Parte Uno
I must be in a bit of a baker's mood lately, because yesterday I took the time (most of it waiting) to make some homemade french baguettes. The recipe was surpisingly easy, especially with the KitchenAide's dough-hook. Here's what I ended up with:
- 3 to 3½ cups HG bread flour
- 1 TB vegetable oil (I should have used olive oil though)
- 1 t salt
- 1 TB sugar
- 1 pkg Active Yeast
- 1 cup of warm water (I used 115°)
I sifted all the dry except about a cup and a half into the bowl and blended it well. Then I added the warm water, and the oil (together actually) and got the mixture going. I gradually added the rest of the flour until it balled up on the hook. I removed it and dropped it on the floured cutting board and began kneading it. It took about 10 minutes to get it to the texture I wanted and then I sprayed a metal bowl with oil and dropped it in, turning it around a bit to coat it lightly. I covered it and began the 1st proof. This wait took almost 2 hours actually, not because the yeast wasn't active, but because this type of bread needs a longer proofing time, which gives it its distinctive body.
After it had doubled in size, I punched it down and rolled it out to a decent rectangle. I had to spray it with some water to get it to hold its shape, and that really worked out well. The gluten in the dough was very strong by this time and was really springing it back into a rounded shape. I halved it and rolled the two pieces to about a 2" diameter logs, tapered the ends and placed them on a sheet that I greased lightly and sprinkled with cornmeal. I sliced the dough about ¼" deep on an angle and brushed it with iced water. This helped tighten the outside and produce that really heavy crust you find in good french bread. This led me into the 2nd proofing stage, which only took about an hour.
After the rolls had doubled in size, I preheated the oven to 375° and brushed the tops with an egg white mixed with about a tablespoon of iced water. Then baked for about 25 minutes. The bread turned out spectacular, and was appropriately so, some of the best bread I've ever eaten. I sauteed perogie in some onion, garlic, pepper and extra-virgin olive oil and a bit of 2005 Blackstone Pinot Noir. I then added the rest of the sauce from the other night's spaghetti. There was actually a lot more sauce than there should have been, but it was easily mopped up with the fresh bread. A glass of the same Pinot topped off the meal.
In all, the entire process was great fun. Just like the pasta before, I'm definitely going to be making my own bread as often as I can. The trick now is to get it down where I don't have to look at a recipe to do it.
Ciao