Bahgetz Roosteek and Burger Buns
This weekend has been pretty much perfect. We’re on the North Coast. The weather is sunny and mild. The birds and flowers are enjoying Summer. I’m barbecuing three nights in a row (loin lamb chops, Bulgogi and Tandoori Chicken). And I baked something new and something familiar; something sour and something sweet.
After my Bouabsa baguette fail a couple weeks ago, I didn’t panic. And I didn’t fall back on the old reliable (and always wonderful) proth5 Bear-guettes for my next baguette bake. Yesterday, for the first time, I baked the Baguette Tradition After Gosselin After DMSnyder which Brother David recommended (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/23821/baguette-tradition-after-phillip-gosselin [1]). According to the instructions, I divided and “shaped” the gooey dough into “baguettes”, with no proofing before baking. The shapes are sorta long and skinny—skinnier in some places than others, but they basically refused to be pulled into any regular shape. I believe the term “roosteek” makes them sound prettier than the term “gummy snakes”.
The crumb also is not perfect. Better than the Bouabsa ones, but still just a tad rubbery. Perhaps under-fermented. The crust is nicely crispy. The flavor is outstanding, a bit sour and very complex.
I’ll try this formula again.
Tomorrow is my brother-in-law’s annual barbecue, and today I made a bunch of Sylvia’s amazing sandwich buns (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/17329/buns-sandwiches [4]) for burgers. I had tried this formula before, and again found it simple and satisfying. I made 14 of them with a double batch of dough. The convection oven allowed me to bake two pans together (oooooh!).
Here they are ready to go in the oven.
And here’s the finished product.
They are delicious! My wife says I should have made seven more so we could have a 21 bun salute for the occasion.
I leave you with a view of the garden we love to tend.
Happy Independence Day to all!
Glenn