Facing My Fears

The Baguette (seen here with its best friend)

When you speak of bread, the proverbial ‘staff of life’, the baguette is the loaf that comes to my mind. A perfect warm, crusty length of goodness that represents the simplest of ingredients transformed, seemingly by magic, into something ethereal.

It is humble and at the same time heroic in the hands of a true artisan. I have avoided it for as long as I can remember working with yeast. The main reason is because I am not an artisanal bread baker. (I am not sure how I would define myself in relation to bread, but I can confidently start the process by crossing “Boulanger” off the list of options.) 

The second reason that a baguette has not graced my blog is that when you really get to the heart of things—if I can’t get a baguette right, what authority do I have to write about anything bread-like, bread-esque, bread-ish? But now is the moment, I have to face my fears and confront my skills (or lack thereof). It’s go time!

Daunting as the prospect of baking a baguette maybe, I have a secret weapon. Her name is Liz Phillips. I highly recommend getting one of these if you are ever faced with a challenge that questions the core of your very being (or at the very least, the credibility of your blog).

Liz is expertly gifted in convincing you that you are capable of anything, except she is not just “convincing” you, she actually believes it! She has a never say “never” attitude that leaves you somewhere between wanting to run out of the room to hide from the challenge and desperately needing to give a giant, sloppy kiss to her. It would be infuriating to listen to her tell you of all your potential, if it weren’t so meaningful to hear her say it at that exact moment. And it leaves you utterly shocked because the sincerity in her voice transcends reason.

This is the voice that propelled me through my youth, and unbeknownst to her, she is going to help me make these damn baguettes!

Liz Phillips, I know you have wondered what bread would best represent you, and honestly, there is none. You loom larger than any loaf in a cookbook. You are not the yeast, or the flour, or the salt, you are the vision that guides the hands that knead the dough. You are the passion that drives the endeavor. You are the belief that these simple ingredients can be so much more than the sum of their parts.

So, I am expecting a lot from you, but I know that you won’t disappoint me—you never have.

The sponge. (Not suitable for use on countertops or other surfaces.)

The good old boys: yeast and water.

A lil' yeast enjoying a nice warm bath.

The sponge belly-flops into the pool party.

A dough is born.

A dough grows and grows.

Oooof...and then it is put in check.

The dough is cut and formed into torpedos.

Later, it is rolled and tucked. The product is finally taking shape.

Success! (As if there were ever any hint of doubt.)

Note: The process of making baguettes takes a couple of days and the instructions are rather lengthy and quite detailed. So, I am sending anyone who is the least bit interested in creating these lovely loaves at home to the best source on the web King Arthur Flour. 

To be specific: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2008/05/02/baguettes-do-try-this-at-home/

I hope you will give it a try!