At least that was what happened to my challenge for this month which is hosted by my dear friend Mary of the The Sourdough and Sara of I like to cook. The theme was French bread and just not any French bread but the recipe by the French Chef herself – the lovable Julia Child!
The making of the bread itself was not hard – especially since I used my trusty kitchen aid -and no I did not drop the whisk into it this time. But it does take a while to complete so you need to plan your day around it. For example, I made my dough early in the morning and went shopping afterwards – how neat is that? When I came back with a couple of bags from Sur La Table, I deflated my growing blob and got it ready for its second rise. Then I started dinner which was chicken bouillabaisse (okay I know you purists are going to slam me) and also prepared some garlic aioli (watch for the recipes in my next post- my hubby was happy that real food was back on the table.)
I did run into a problem with shaping the dough. There was no way I could form baguettes with it – it kept springing back. What did I do wrong, Mary? Too much gluten?
Anyway, when I was partitioning my dough I was fresh from a bout with the whisk trying to make aioli the second time – so I was bit tired and frustrated (never make aoili and french bread on the same day). And as I shaped my bread I knew that I made them in different sizes as in small, medium , large!
Oh well. The bread tasted yummy specially smeared with the garlic aioli and dipped in some of the saffron scented broth of the bouillabaisse and that was all that mattered!
I strongly recommend that you go visit the great aroma of bread wafting from my other co-daring bakers blogs.
And my thanks to Mary and Sarah for this great challenge!
I'll take one of each size, please.
Well, they certainly look tasty! Glad to hear that your day of bread making was full of many other things as well. What a wonder this bread baking is, no?
Oh, and yes I have made it twice and will surely make it again. It is all about overnight rising, bread by noon!
I think they look lovely, and its nice to hear they tasted delicious too!
Regardless of the size, the crust came out lovely and evenly browned. You did a great job
Veron I guess I've become a slave to my scale or I've just watched too many bread baking DVDs lately but my loaves all weighted within 10 grams of each other. I doubt Julia would have done that. Um…I do believe I'm going overboard.
Chicken bouillabaisse and aioli would be so good with this bread. Wish I'd have had a bowl.
who cares about the size?? They look great!
YUM. Smeared with the garlic aioli and dipped in some of the saffron scented broth of the bouillabaisse-Oh my. your making me drool!
My wife swears by the Julia Child bread recipe.. Julia gets the crumb right.
Oh so adorable and so desireable! You really rocks!
I bet those loaves WERE tasty with the aioli and bouillabaisse! Great job!
Veron,
Who cares about shape and size when there are such things as aioli and bouillabaisse to dunk them in!
Your loaves look just fine to me
Thanks so much as usual for all the love and support. It was a joy to have you bake with Sara and I this month.
Veron, you definitely get a lot of stuff done while making the bread! All I did was reading the recipe over and over again to make sure I didn't do anything wrong!
They look delicious! And I can't wait for the garlic aioli recipe!
Sometimes breaddough will not cooperate when it comes to shaping for me either. I think they're still beautiful and I am envious of the aoili and bouillabaisse bet is was delish!
x x x
Oh baby. I can taste the warmth and flavor right from this fantastic photos! Wonnnnderful!
And, way to multitask! You rule!
BEAUTIFUL!!! Your bread looks delicious, you did a wonderful job :O)
Yes, aioli and bread in the same day are quite the task. I made mayo a while ago and thought my arm was going to fall off.
Yes, aioli and bread in the same day are quite the task. I made mayo a while ago and thought my arm was going to fall off.
I think you did a fantastic job with it! Maybe you need to let the dough rest a little before you shape it… gluten needs to relax. But hey! I didn't take part in this challenge so what do I know. It really does look good with a good crust! Well done!
I always have a hard time shaping bread. Yours still looks great though!
Nice loaves…er…um batards, Veron! And can I stay for dinner? The chicken bouillaisse sounds absolutely delicious! On to the next challenge…
You've mastered this perfectly. I like the way they look – rustic! Well done!
As long as you can eat it who cares about the shapes. Plus the description of what you did with the bread sounds delicious.
I've seen french breads with all kinds of cheese but all of a sudden I crave aioli and one of those sizes please…
Well done with this month's challenge, Veron. And also time management, good that you were able to work around the brad making.
Your dinner sounds yummy
Very nice, I like having options! It's a great idea to make different sizes, even if that wasn't the original intent.
You did an awesome job! Diversity is the spice of life so your batards are right on! I am sure it tasted wonderful with the bouillabaisse!
Yum! Sounds like you made a delicious meal with delicious bread!
It was a great try, Veronica! And considering all you had going on while you were making it, I think it came out fabulous!
I agree, a little resting period would have helped with the elasticity. But they look great anyway!
Who ever said size matters anyway? hee hee. Looks delicious. Love the color.
With all your new ventures, etc this turned out great. A few bags from Sur La Table? I'm envious!
Hats off to you for making both French bread and aioli on the same day *winks* Though I'm salivating at the thought of some of that yummy bread with bouillabaisse …
There are so many good things in your kitchen. Your bread looks delicious.
I don't know what you'd call those shapes, but I like them! And how perfect to have a bouillabaise for dipping — Julia would have approved, I'm sure.
Well I think they look cute. Like the 3 bears. And I'm sure they were delicious with garlic aoli! Great job!
You did a great job on your bread. My children would love the different shapes of loaves. They would think it great fun!
Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go
Great job on your bread. My children would think it great fun that each loaf had it's own personality.
Natalie @ Gluten a Go Go
Well, you have got your self some batards there. I made those too.
I would have let the bread rest a little more.
Oh yum, fresh bread and fresh aioli? How much better can a day get?
Well, they look great! Mine flopped, too! Oh well …. you win some you lose some regardless it was a blast!
Well, they look great! Mine flopped, too! Oh well …. you win some you lose some regardless it was a blast!
well, the three sizes mean you get more choices, so I wouldn´t really worry about it. Plus, you seemed to be cooking up a storm that day!
I think they look cute
Like the three bears.
I'd love to see the recipe for the garlic aioli and the bouillabaisse! I love saffron and always try to find different ways to use it. With bread and garlic… it sounds delicious.
I want mine served exclusively with some sweet creamy French butter
Nice looking crusty edges! My oven can never seem to do that…I'll have to employ the pan of ice cubes and bricks method soon!
Your loaves look good to me. They have a great rustic quality.
Garlic aioli and saffron scented broth? Whoa!! What a delicious and fantastic way to eat bread!
very pretty!
Garlic aioli sounds sooo good with this bread. (I made garlic bread from some of mine, that was tasty too, especially while terribly hungry, waiting for dinner to finish.) Great job!