Surprise Baguette

dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m

10 years ago

I smoked some salmon, and wanted some baguette to enjoy the salmon.

I feel that baguettes are nice if they are longer than 24", just like in France. So I made one that is 27" long. The longest I can fit in my oven diagonally.

As usual, I fooled around a little. I found a package of yeast that was about 7 or 9 years old for wine making when I was making wine.

I decided to use that wine yeast.

Surprise! it worked very well and the baguette tasted great!

The smoked salmon was wonderful on the wine yeast baguette.

The 27" baguette didn't last very long. :-)

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Tue, Feb 18, 14 at 18:46

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Comments (23)

westsider40
10 years ago
You are good, dc, you are good! You have the touch!
Jasdip
10 years ago
Oh yum!! That is a great-looking baguette!
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ann_t
10 years ago
I'm jealous. The longest baguette I can bake is about 22". I need to buy a longer stone.

~Ann
debrak2008
10 years ago
Looks delicious!
Islay_Corbel
10 years ago
I'm not convinced the extra 3 inches added anything much but it looks very good! ;)
Many baguettes here are shorter, especially the more traditional ones. Many bakers here are going back to the more traditional methods which is great.
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks everyone.

It's fun to make long baguettes, especially if you are making them to give to friends or take them to a dinner invitation.

After all, baguette means "wand" or "baton", as in baguette magique (magic wand), I understand some can be as long as 40".

dcarch
Islay_Corbel
10 years ago
I think the really long thin ones are called Ficelles - strings.
sally2_gw
10 years ago
Where's Jessy when we need her?

Sally
WalnutCreek Zone 7b/8a
10 years ago
Would you mind sharing your recipe. The baguette looks wonderful.
sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
10 years ago
Haha, i like the tape measure proof. You are like a kid in your own candy store. Finding things in the pantry and making it happen.
foodonastump
10 years ago
Speaking as an insecure male, a) I'd have called it 28 inches b) it's useless unless you've got a bread board long enough to accommodate it.

:-)
ruthanna_gw
10 years ago
That looks delicious, dcarch. I recently found my grandfather's recipe for dandelion wine and one of the ingredients was wine yeast, which I am glad to know still exists, at least as recently as a decade ago.
annie1992
10 years ago
OK, FOAS, I'm laughing.

Nice baguette, dcarch. I'm not surprised, of course, that the yeast worked fine. I think bread is one of the simplest and most forgiving things I made, although you can also make it as difficult and complicated as you want to.

Yours looks nicely crunchy on the outside and properly "hole-y" on the inside. I seldom make baguettes that long, I make several shorter ones, so I can store them more easily. The alternative is to eat them more quickly and my diet just can't stand that, LOL.

Annie
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you all for your kind comments.

Walnutcreek, Not much of a recipe. I seldom follow recipes. But here was what I essentially did.

As I said the yeast was a dried up pack of wine making yeast, about one teaspoon, into about 3 1/2 cups of AP flour, very wet dough. sugar, salt, no oil. Secrete ingredients: tablespoon Vital Gluten, and a teaspoon of dry malt powder.

FOAS, me too, length challenged, obsessed.

In addition to long baguette, I desire long tools.

You see from the picture above:

A home made Yanagiba sushi/salmon knife that is 330mm long (13" blade length). I used D-2 steel, hardened and cryo-tempered.

A home made long (36") salmon shaped walnut cutting board which is long enough to layout the entire side of smoked salmon.

dcarch
mtnester
10 years ago
I'm not planning on baking a baguette, but I have some smoked salmon that I'd like to use soon as an appetizer. Just wondering what you used to garnish the salmon (or what you might suggest).

Thanks,

Sue
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
Original Author
10 years ago
Sue,

Because I (apple wood) smoked the salmon myself, each time I use different seasoning for different tastes.

This batch of salmon, I used an artichoke tapenade mixed with finely chopped capers and cream cheese for the spread on the baguette slices.

Very tasty. Garnished with a little cilantro and a sprinkle of lemon salt.

dcarch
mtnester
10 years ago
Hmmm, I've never eaten artichokes or capers (or cilantro or lemon salt, either). As you can see, I've led a sheltered life, LOL! But it all sounds very tasty ... and tempting. Thanks!

Sue
wintercat_gw
10 years ago
Hell, my longest tool is an 8" bread knife, and the longest bread loaf I ever made was 12".

Talk about baguette envy in women.
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
Original Author
10 years ago
WinterCat one of the reasons for a very long baguette is when you have a casual banquette, a long baguette is the way to make an impressive fancy lengthy hoagie, grinder, hero, submarine sandwich.

A short one will not measure up. :-)

dcarch
westsider40
10 years ago
wait, dc, you made that board? And it is 36 inches long? You really, really are a talented lad. It is lovely.
And so is the knife. My gosh, you have so much stuff. You need a warehouse to hold all your toys and a whole community center to do all that you do. And I remember your gardening pictures. Holy shmoly, archduke of dc!
artsyshell
10 years ago
Lovely looking baguette!
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you Westsider and Ssommerville.

I just smoked another side of salmon.

You can see why I need a 330mm razor sharp Yanagiba blade and a 36" cutting board.

dcarch
kitchendetective
10 years ago
You even make knives! Thud.

Surprise Baguette

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