I made three baguettes using a recipe from King Arthur flour (the recipe was printed right on the bag of flour). I buy all of my flour from them (they definitely don't pay me to say that). While I'm not going to say you should use their stuff...I am going to say that you should find a brand you like and stick with it because flour is different across brands and you want to get used to your flour so you'll know how it behaves. For example, all purpose flour is typically a mix of hard and soft wheat - so different brands of all purpose flour will have different protein contents. So different all purpose flours will have slightly different consistencies and will rise differently, etc... You'll be able to gain confidence baking if you get comfortable with your flour.
That being said, there are times when you want more protein, less protein, etc... You want a different flour for a bread than for a cake. Flour matters.
Anywho...I bought the King Arthur French Style flour because it is high-ash (that means more minerals and more nutrients) and made from hard wheat. It's supposed to be more flavorful. And we all want yummy baguettes, right?
Baguettes
Mix 6cups of flour, 2 cups of lukewarm water, 2Tbs of instant yeast, and 1Tbs of salt until it comes together in a smooth dough. Let it rest for half an hour.
Knead the dough for 7-10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic.
Let the dough rise in a greased bowl (cover it with a tea towel) until doubled (1 and a half hours)
On your worksurface, work the dough for a while- folding it over onto itself numerous times
Let the dough rise again until doubled (another 1 and a half hours)
Form your baguettes - stretch the dough into three about 15 inch baguettes
Let the baguettes rise for an hour
Heat your oven to 450 degrees
Spray the baguettes with water, put in the oven for 20-25 minutes until deeply golden
Turn off the oven and open the door about an inch
Let the baguettes cool completely in the oven
Like I said, it takes time. The baguettes are lovely though- and only have four ingredients: flour, water, yeast, salt (maybe a little oil from the greased bowl). That's it. No preservatives.
Next time, I think I'm going to make it a bit of a longer process and start with a sponge starter, because that adds even more flavor to the bread. I'll post about that soon.
And here's the soup to go with it...that's right soup goes with the bread in my house. The bread is more important.
Curried Split Pea with Ham Soup
I made those baked potatoes with broccoli, ham, and cheese during the week and this is a good way to use the rest of the ham.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a pan over medium heat
Add 3 cloves of garlic- minced, 3 shallots- minced (you could use onions...I had shallots, so I used shallots), and half a cup of diced carrots. Cook until softened and starting to brown.
Add the cubed ham (I added about 2 cups) and cook until it browns a bit
Add a bag of split peas (picked through for rocks, rinsed and drained)
Add 8 cups of water and bring to a boil
Boil for 2-3 minutes, then reduce heat to a simmer
Add 2-3 Tbs of curry powder (to taste) and salt & pepper (to taste)
Cook until the peas have softened (30 - 40 minutes)
Taste for seasoning. Adjust if necessary then simmer for about 20 more minutes so the flavors meld. If you need to add more liquid you can definitely do so. Water works fine, but broth would add more flavor.
Lots of curry makes this split pea soup more brown than green
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