My First Baguette

Which is sort of like My Little Pony, but with the oven.

 

One of my cooking experiments is to learn to cook mussels. There were lovely mussels at the Whole Foods yesterday, but Lorna pointed out that, until I have a baguette recipe down, we're not spending the money for mussels.

Okay. Fine.

Baguette.

So, I looked at my wheaty recipe, then checked out the bread recipe in "Artisanal Gluten Free" and Jules Shepard's gf French bread recipe.

Okay.

Yeah.

I can invent something here that's mine.

So, ingredients:

1 1/4 c. milk (I used unsweetened almond)

1 T. butter

2 1/4 t. yeast

1 t. cane sugar

1 t. salt

1/2 t. xantham gum

2 1/4 c. gf all-purpose flour (I intend to do a gf all-purpose flour post next week)

Method:

I put my milk and butter to a saucepan and heated slowly.

Then, since I don't have a baguette pan (yet), I made a fake one with aluminum foil.

When the butter's just melted, I poured yeast in and let it bubble and collide and be yeasty for 5 minutes. While this was happening, I put the dry ingredients in the mixer (you can use a  bowl and hand-mix, I bet -- I figure I have the mixer, I'm using it.)

Then, in goes the yeast mixture and I mixed that baby up.

Now, this? This feels NOTHING like my normal mix. However, I am not frightened of goo. It is only batter. I will control it with my Handy Ziploc Bag of Joy!

Now to pour my baguette. (Please ignore the fuzzy robe, I was chilly, and yes, that's new ink. Yes, there will be color. Yes, I know, it's big.)

Rising time! 20 minutes somewhere warm with a dish towel. :D

Oh, about 10 minutes into that rising time, I put a dish of water in the oven and preheated to 410 degrees. (The water helps the crust get...crusty.

Rising Bread!

I popped her in the oven for 20, then pulled her out and egg washed (1 egg, a nice plop of water) for shinytude!

13 more minutes in and viola!

Grins. What would I do differently? I think the baguette pans will be *very* helpful for the shape. Otherwise, it tastes like heaven. :D :D

YAY!

I'm thinking there will be mussels in my future!

Allergens: dairy, egg, almonds (to avoid dairy: use a non-dairy spread or a natural shortening for the butter; to avoid egg: omit egg wash; to avoid almond: use soy or hemp or coconut or dairy milk)

S.