The Cheese Board (24 page)

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Authors: Cheese Board Collective Staff

BOOK: The Cheese Board
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Put the baguettes in a
proofing chamber
and let rise in a warm place for 2 to 3 hours, or until an impression remains when the dough is pressed with a finger. The baguettes may not look higher but should have increased in width by one-third.
To make the topping, mix the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and fennel seeds together in a small bowl. Set aside.
Fifteen minutes before the baguettes have finished rising, place a metal roasting pan on the floor of the oven.
Arrange the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Pour ½ cup cold water into a measuring cup and add enough ice cubes to bring the volume to 1 cup. Using a spray bottle, generously mist the baguettes with water and sprinkle with the topping.
Slash
the top of the baguettes and mist them again. Working quickly so that you don’t lose too much heat, place the baking sheets in the oven and pour the ice water into the roasting pan. Immediately close the oven door to maintain a steamy environment.
Bake for 5 minutes, then prepare another round of ice water and repeat the process. Bake for 15 minutes longer, then rotate the baking sheets front to back and trade their rack positions. Bake 15 to 20 minutes longer, for a total baking time of 35 to 40 minutes, or until the baguettes are golden brown. Using the spray bottle, mist the loaves, immediately close the oven door, and bake for 1 more minute. Transfer the loaves to a wire rack to cool.
Bastille Day Baguettes
This simple and fun variation on the baguette recipe is for serious garlic lovers.
1 head (about 18 cloves) garlic, peeled
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Mince 2 of the garlic cloves and combine with the olive oil in a small bowl. Set aside.
Place 4 cloves along each cut length of dough and roll them into the dough as you shape the baguette.
Follow the recipe above for rising and baking instructions. Upon removing the baguettes from the oven, brush each with the garlic oil.
 
We are always talking about the slash: the depth, the angle of it, what it looks like. The true beauty of the slash is not the slash itself but the space between the slashes … the negative space.
—LAURA
 
I used to bake on Thursday afternoons. I loved how I could make the baguettes look beautiful, especially at a certain time of year when the sunlight comes in and washes across the table where we decant the baguettes from the trays. I always wanted my four-by-five camera: the baguettes looked just beautiful, like they were varnished.
—CHARLIE
 
One of the funniest days at the Cheese Board was the millennium New Year’s Eve. We had made a huge amount of baguette dough, 1,300 pounds, but by 2
P.M.
all the baguettes were gone, not only from our store but from all the other bakeries and supermarkets. All of Berkeley was in a panic. Berkeley people may be progressive with their politics, but they must have their baguettes!
—CATHY
FLOUR, WATER, AND SALT
A couple of hundred pounds of flour, approximately 60 percent of that in water and ice, some salt, and about twelve gallons of sourdough starter with a gazillion or so little critters working away in it, and I’m ready to start mixing a big batch of baguette dough. Everything is dumped altogether into a big 250-pound-capacity spiral mixer. The timer is set, and ten to twelve minutes later, I stick my fingers in the dough to test how it feels. Then I take its temperature, pick up a bit and stretch it, and if all seems right, I have a large batch of dough ready to start rising. Hydraulics lift and tilt the mixer up and over on its side, and the dough slowly begins to flow out to be separated into seven twenty-gallon barrels, where it will rise overnight. Sometimes it seems like alchemy, other times like the most basic, wonderful organic thing I could possibly do.
Even after ten years of making doughs, the process remains fascinating, and it still makes me very anxious. I prepare an overnight dough that will be ready for the early shift, which starts rolling bread around 4:30
A.M.
If I have done my job right, the dough will be smooth and silky, with just enough muscle to roll out properly and then rise a second time into a proper loaf. I want those sleepy early-morning people to have an easy and enjoyable time creating all the products that come from this one dough, and there are many:
baguettes
; baguette pieces;
City Breads
, plain and seeded;
City Bâtards
; oniony bialys; spicy
Zampanos
;
small round olive focaccias
; large sheets of
sun-dried tomato foccacia
; and
English muffins
. If I haven’t done my “organic alchemy” right, I’m going to have some very upset coworkers, let alone lots of disappointed customers. I must admit I sometimes still call the store early and ask, “Was my dough okay?”
—Charlie
City Bread
Though made from the same dough as the sourdough baguettes, these breads have a greater crumb-to-crust ratio and therefore stay moist longer. Shaped and left to rise in proofing baskets, City Bread takes on a rustic appearance. Misting and steaming these loaves produces a crunchy, golden brown crust. If you own a baking stone, the bread crust will be enhanced by using it. For loaves risen on sheets, try topping them with seeds after misting them.
MAKES 2 LOAVES
Preparation time including rising and baking: 11 hours (unless rising overnight); active time: 1 hour
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 pieces. Gently form each piece into a
loose round
and cover with a floured kitchen towel. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Shape the dough into
large rounds
. Flour the insides of 2 proofing baskets or lightly flour a baking sheet. Place the loaves in the baskets, seam side up, or seam-side down on the prepared pan. Or, shape the dough into
bâtards
and let rise in oblong proofing baskets or directly on a prepared baking sheet.
Put the loaves in a
proofing chamber
and let rise in a warm place for 4 to 5 hours, or until increased in size by one-half and a finger pressed into the dough leaves an impression.
If using a baking stone,
45 minutes before the loaves have finished rising, arrange the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Place the baking stone on the lower rack and place a metal roasting pan on the floor of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
If using a baking sheet only,
15 minutes before the loaves have finished rising, remove all but the middle rack from the oven and place a metal roasting pan on the floor of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
If rising the dough in baskets, lightly dust a baking sheet with flour and turn the baskets upside-down to gently release the loaves onto the sheet 4 inches apart.
Slash
the top of the loaves. If rising on a sheet, slash the top of the loaves and, using a spray bottle, generously mist them with water.
Pour ½ cup cold water into a measuring cup and add enough ice cubes to bring the volume to 1 cup. Working quickly so that you don’t lose too much heat, place the baking sheet in the oven and pour the ice water into the roasting pan. Immediately close the oven door to maintain a steamy environment.
Bake for 5 minutes, then prepare another round of ice water and repeat the process. Bake for 15 minutes longer, then rotate the baking sheet front to back. Bake for at least 25 more minutes, for a total baking time of 45 minutes, or until the bread is deep brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Or, if using a baking stone, 5 minutes before the end of the bake, transfer the breads from the pan directly onto the stone and finish the bake. Transfer the loaves to a wire rack to cool.
 
I love making the dough on Thursday afternoon and then tasting it on Friday morning. It is a thrill for me.
—JOHN
English Muffins
The crumb of these English muffins is filled with wide, uneven holes. Split in two, toasted, and eaten with butter and jam, they make a perfect simple breakfast. The dough scraps can be recycled and used in other ways (for bialys, Zampanos, or even a single pizza), but don’t reuse them for English muffins since the crumb will be dense and tough.
MAKES 12 ENGLISH MUFFINS
Preparation time including rising and baking: 8 hours (unless rising overnight); active time: 1 hour
6 tablespoons medium-grind yellow cornmeal

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