Baby1 has just embarked on a brand new journey: the joy (or lack thereof) of television. With Baby2 taking some of our time, and at times just needing a bit of quiet from simultaneous screaming from both kids, Hubby and I have decided that yes, we'll try a bit of television therapy with Baby1, just so that we could get, oh, 5 minutes of peace or attempts at establishing peace in this house. In comes Noggin.
We've been watching the Backyardigans and Ni-Hao Kai-lan. Backyardigans because she picked up Uniqua one day at a Target, and instantly recognized her again on the show when one of her cousins had a DVD of of the Backyardigans at Papa's house. Ni-Hao Kai-lan because, well, it would be good for her to learn Chinese at some point, even if it is through a TV show. Both shows, she has actually paid some steady attention to them, which is a relief for us whenever we're hitting a point of decibel limit in the house. But the characters...
Backyardigans. Whose great idea was it to have the white hippo be high-ranked character in each of the episodes? Who made her queen? And Uniqua has a decidedly African-American voice - so why is she singled out as being so unique? And never mind the "mystery" episode, when the moose, also of an African American voice, was the butler and Uniqua was the "strange out-of-towner" character. As for the penguin and the kangaroo - well, they're almost the only two not-extraordinary characters on the show.
And Ni-Hao Kai-lan. Hubby came to the realization yesterday morning that the tiger has ADD, the koala has low self-esteem issues (as well as an unhealthy obsession with pandas - do I detect a "I wish I were" kind of self-value view by the koala?), the monkey is just too small to have personality, the grandfather has to be senile to be hanging out with this motley crew, and Kai-lan is on some sort of prescription medication (we presume for delusional schizophrenia - damn, her pupils are seriously dilated). And how much her high-pitched voice carries her cheerleader personality...
Let's just say I miss the days of Bugs and Tom/Jerry, when cartoons were a little less complex, characters a little more straight-forward, and situations a little more clear-cut. This cast of characters... if they're a reflection of the characters we have in every-day life, of the broad spectrum of personalities we see each day, we're in trouble.
At the least, amidst this entry of new personalities into our house and daily life, and amidst my loss of hearing via the kids, I'm taking on a new recipe for a baguette, care of DK's Bread bible. Simple, clear-cut, and I split the recipe in two by overnighting the rising period in the fridge. I finally got the sponge step looking more like the way it should, and I read something in a book that made too much sense to me - don't use a metallic bowl for making bread, as it will impart an off-flavor to the yeast and to the bread.
Baguette
1 2/3 c lukewarm water
2 1/2 t yeast
500g flour
1 1/2t salt
- Sprinkle the yeast in 1 1/4 c of the water in a non-metallic bowl (try glass or ceramic), and let sit for 5 minutes. Mix to dissolve.
- Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl, and make a well in the middle. Pour in the yeast mixture.
- Stir just enough of the flour into the yeast mixture with a wooden spoon to yield a sticky paste (sponge). Cover with a dishcloth and let rest for 20 minutes, or until sponge has doubled in volume.
- Stir the rest of the flour into the sponge, mixing the remainder of the water only if necessary, one Tablespoon at a time. Don't mix in too much water! (this is where my process screwed up, and I had to mix in more flour to dry the mix... we'll have to see how it comes out)
- Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until elastic and smooth, about 10 minutes.
- Form dough into a smooth ball, and place in a non-metallic bowl. Cover with dishcloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 1.5 hours. This is where I did the overnight refrigerator rising method: place dough in a non-metallic bowl, and brush the surface with olive oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in the fridge overnight (min. 8 hours).
- Remove cover, punch down, cover bowl with dish towel and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Repeat punch-down and rise. (Both rises I executed with a dish towel. I did not use the plastic wrap cover for either rise, as there was considerable condensation on the plastic wrap this morning.)
- Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Flour your baking surface (I'm using a baking stone).
- Divide dough into two parts, and shape accordingly (3-fold letter shape, followed by half-fold, then elongate). Transfer dough onto baking surface, and cover with dish cloth to let proof, about 50 minutes.
- Give the top of shaped loaves 4 slashes. Finish the surface with either an egg wash or a salt-water wash (I'm going to give it a salt-water wash to see how it comes out).
- Bake 20-25 minutes, steaming of oven is optional.
As I write this, I'm waiting for the loaf to go through its second rise. We'll see how it comes out. But, the overall recipe is very simple indeed, and the DK Bread bible is really wonderful in illustrating the exact look and methods involved in baking bread. I've tried other recipes, often more complicated and not as clearly explained... so we shall see...
>>UPDATE AS OF 5:30PM
Success! The baguette, even with an overnight rise, came out great. Crust was great, though a little thicker than I like (I like the crisp thin crust, but this tasted authentic), and inside was generally uniform with some larger (1/2") air bubbles here and there. Flavor was right on - it was my using metal bowls in the past that lent the bread the weird flavors. I am so using this recipe again.
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