Baguettes

My favorite place in the world is Paris. Bryan and I have traveled a lot and we've been to some amazing places, but there's just something magical about Paris. Bryan thinks I feel this way because of the bread, cheese, and pastries. He's probably right.

This is what your poolish should look like after 10 hours

There's amazing bakeries at every corner with the aroma of fresh baked bread in the air.. I've been there twice now and both times, I would buy a couple baguettes and keep one on me at all times to snack while I walked all day. I would finish a whole baguette to myself and not feel the least bit guilty about it. I figure I would walk off all the calories anyway. 

After you mix in the remaining water, flour, and yeast into the poolish

After the second stretch and fold, you should start seeing some activity

This baguette recipe does not require a starter, but you do have to make a poolish the night before, which isn't that difficult! This recipe is not hard, but time consuming just like any good bread recipe. 

I put towels inbetween each shaped baguette, so it keeps its form

After each baguette was scored with a sharp blade

INGREDIENTS 

YIELDS 3 BAGUETTES 

POOLISH

• 250 grams bread flour
• 250 grams water, room temperature
• 2 grams active dry yeast

DOUGH

• 250 grams bread flour
• 200 grams water, room temperature
• 2 grams active dry yeast
• 10 grams salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. To make the poolish, mix the flour, water, and yeast. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand on the counter, overnight. This takes about 10-12 hours. The poolish is ready when it passes the float test. Drop a small amount of the poolish into water. If it sinks, it's not ready to use and needs more time to ferment.
2. Once your poolish is ready, mix in the rest of the water until diluted. Add in the active dry yeast along with the bread flour. Mix into a rough dough and leave dough to rest for 15 minutes.
3. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface, and stretch and fold for about 2 minutes. The dough will be very sticky at this stage. 
4. Transfer the dough to a clear container and begin the bulk fermentation at a temperature of about 75 degrees F.
5. Every 45 minutes, stretch and fold the dough. For the first stretch and fold, add in the salt before starting your fold. To do the fold, dip one hand in water to prevent the dough from sticking to you then grab the underside of the dough, stretch it up and fold it back over the rest of the dough. Repeat this action two or three times so that all the dough gets evenly developed
6. Repeat this process 4 times, every 45 minutes. After the 4th stretch and fold, let the dough rest for another 45 minutes. Turn out the dough on a clean surface and divide it into 3 equal pieces and shape into a rectangle with rounded corners. Let rest on the work surface for 30 minutes.
7. Drape a large kitchen towel over a baking sheet or cutting board and dust with rice flour
8. Working with one dough rectangle at a time, fold the third of of the dough closes to your up and over the middle third. Holding the ends of the dough, stretch it horizontally so that it doubles in width. Fold the third of the dough farthest from you over the middle of the elongated rectangle as if closing the flap of an envelope. Press on this flap to develop tension in the dough. Use your palms and fingers together to roll the dough toward you. With each roll, press down with the outer edge of your palms and fingers to further develop tension in the dough. You should end up with a cylinder of dough shaped like a rolling pin. Place both palms on the dough and roll back and forth to elongate.
9. Place the dough on the floured surface, seam side down and separate them with folds in the towel. I used a whole towel rolled up inbetween each baguette.
10. Cover with a tea towel and let rise at warm room temperature for 2 hours. 
11. Place the baking stone in the middle rack of the oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. To get the best crust on your baguette, you're going to want to create steam in your oven. Place a rimmed baking sheet lined with water soaked kitchen towels in the bottom of the oven as it's preheating. This will produce steam in the oven. 
12. Using rice flour, dust a pizza peel. Flip each loaf onto the pizza peel. With a double edged razor, score each loaf with a series of slightly overlapping lines. 
13. Make sure your oven is fully saturated with steam before sliding the baguettes onto the baking stone. Quickly shut the door, so the steam doesn't escape. Bake for 12 minutes and carefully remove the pan with the kitchen towels. Bake for another 10 minutes and serve warm or let cool.