I've been asked to share my recipe for baguette here. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be ethical to share the recipe itself since it comes from a wonderful book: Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. If you click on the title, it will take you to Amazon.com. I don't participate in a referral program but thought it might make life easier for you to be able to click and read reviews.
I like this method of making bread because it is fast and easy and yet healthy. Fast and healthy rarely describe the same food, so it is nice to support an effort to help families (a) eat real homemade food and (b) offer ways to do so without spending all day in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy cooking. But, I also have a lot of other projects to work on.
The premise of the cookbook is that you make a basic recipe and keep that dough in the fridge. When you want to make bread, you simply pull out the amount of dough needed and shape your loaf (your 5 minutes of work). Then, you allow the bread to rest and later bake it. There isn't a lot of kneading involved or even proofing yeast. Instead, the recipes in this book use more moisture and add vital wheat gluten.
Some loaves should rest for as much as 50 minutes. Baguettes require less rest time and bake more quickly (since they are more narrow). This works for me because I get up at 5 am to make lunch and breakfast for my family. I really don't want to have to get up any earlier than that. So, I make baguette and sometimes hit the snooze button. :)
The baguette pictured in my "A Sandwich Bento" entry is the basic whole wheat bread recipe. I've made some changes. I use white whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour. I also made small "mini" baguettes. These are approximately 4 inches long. Once I've allowed the dough to rest, I moisten the baguette with water and sprinkle a mixture of rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper on top. I then slit the top of the dough.
I do hope you will consider looking at this book. It might even be available at your local library. I have found that I bake more frequently because I have the dough ready. I also find I spend much less money on bread. I think my total cost for a conventional loaf of bread might be $0.50 with these recipes. Fancy breads like a herbed baguette would cost far more at the store. I have spent as much as $4 for a nice loaf of bread at Whole Foods. Now, I can just make it at home!
I like this method of making bread because it is fast and easy and yet healthy. Fast and healthy rarely describe the same food, so it is nice to support an effort to help families (a) eat real homemade food and (b) offer ways to do so without spending all day in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy cooking. But, I also have a lot of other projects to work on.
The premise of the cookbook is that you make a basic recipe and keep that dough in the fridge. When you want to make bread, you simply pull out the amount of dough needed and shape your loaf (your 5 minutes of work). Then, you allow the bread to rest and later bake it. There isn't a lot of kneading involved or even proofing yeast. Instead, the recipes in this book use more moisture and add vital wheat gluten.
Some loaves should rest for as much as 50 minutes. Baguettes require less rest time and bake more quickly (since they are more narrow). This works for me because I get up at 5 am to make lunch and breakfast for my family. I really don't want to have to get up any earlier than that. So, I make baguette and sometimes hit the snooze button. :)
The baguette pictured in my "A Sandwich Bento" entry is the basic whole wheat bread recipe. I've made some changes. I use white whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour. I also made small "mini" baguettes. These are approximately 4 inches long. Once I've allowed the dough to rest, I moisten the baguette with water and sprinkle a mixture of rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper on top. I then slit the top of the dough.
I do hope you will consider looking at this book. It might even be available at your local library. I have found that I bake more frequently because I have the dough ready. I also find I spend much less money on bread. I think my total cost for a conventional loaf of bread might be $0.50 with these recipes. Fancy breads like a herbed baguette would cost far more at the store. I have spent as much as $4 for a nice loaf of bread at Whole Foods. Now, I can just make it at home!
0 comments:
Post a Comment