Duck Risotto & 48 Hour Baguette

Tim_230841

I haven't made baguettes in forever and I thought it would go well with a rustic duck risotto.

Nothing too fancy!

Find more posts tagged with

What’s for Dinner

Comments

Afonso_Tito_de_Morais_164825

Care to share that beautiful baguette recipe?

Tim_230841

sure! I changed the recipe a bit when I moved to the states (from Germany), because I cant get the same types of flour and yeast here. The original recipe is at: www.ploetzblog.de But after experimenting a bit, I achieved good results!

345g all purpose flour

15g vital gluten flour (makes a better texture, if you don't have it, just substitute all purpose flour)

240g water

0.7g dry yeast (or 2g fresh yeast, if you can get it)

7g salt

2.5g barley malt syrup or sugar works fine too

yields: 3 medium baguettes

- Mix all the ingredients by hand until you get a nice dough.

- Rest 60 minutes covered at about 75F or 24°C. Every 20 minutes you have to stretch and fold the dough. This is super important! Look up tutorials on youtube on how to do that. When you don't develop the gluten, your bread will not turn out well!

-48 hours resting in the fridge at 39-42F (4-6°C). If your fridge is colder, rest a little longer and if it is slightly warmer, rest a little shorter.

- Cut 3 equal cylinders and pre-shape the baguettes. Again I would look at youtube on how to do it, because it can be tricky if you don't know the right technique.

- Rest the pre-shaped baguettes for 15 min

- Preheat the oven to ca. 482F (250°C)

- Now shape the baguettes (again youtube), and rest them at 75F or 24°C for another 30 mins.

- Now the final step. As soon as you put them in, reduce the oven heat to 450F (230°C) and steam the baguettes. To do this I just fill a cup of water and throw it in the bottom of my oven. It will evaporate and create steam. Don't open the oven after that so the steam wont escape. This technique will give you a really really nice crust. Bake for about 25 minutes and voilà, the baguettes are done.

Some additional advice: Get a baguette form like the one in the picture. They are relatively inexpensive, but improve the end result extremely. Of course, it can be done without the baguette form as well. Also when you are using dry yeast, use room temperature water and dissolve the yeast first in the water, before you mix everything together.

If you want a salty crust, mix equal parts salt with water and brush some on the baguettes, before you bake them. The water will evaporate and you are left with crystalized salt on the outside, without losing a crispy crust.

I know it seems like it is a lot of work, but its fun, and definitely worth it! Nothing better than freshly baked bread

Robert_Conn_II_123023

You had me at duck risotto.