The Glass Oven

We had loverly baguettes in France and I've been trying to emulate them since we got back....

Ingredients (for 4 - 6 baguettes)

500g flour

325g water (approx 25°C) + 1-2 tbsp

¼ tsp fast action yeast

12g salt

50g sourdough starter

Method

Mix the flour and yeast in a large bowl.

Make a well in the mixture, and add the water, salt and sourdough.

Gradually mix the 'well' ingredients, incorporating flour from around the edge using the Scott Glass 'erosion' method.

Once all of the ingredients are well combined, turn out onto a well floured surface.

Kneed and slap the dough around a bit for about 5 mins

Add the extra 1 - 2 tbsp of water depending on how sloppy your dough is - it needs to be fairly sticky and should firm up after a further 8-10 minutes of kneeding.

Leave the dough to rest under a sheet of oiled cling film for 30 minutes

Roll the dough out and then fold in on itself to form a ball.

Place in a large bowl with the cling film on top then leave in the fridge overnight (up to as much as 24 hours - good if you want to do several batches at different times)

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and separate into 4 pieces.

Rest the dough and covered with oiled cling film for 10 mins

Shape into baguettes with two folds and, without squeezing place, them onto a generously floured tea-towel, with folds separating the baguettes

During this time pre-heat your oven to 240C / 200C Fan, place a roasting with approx 1 inch of water on the bottom of the oven and your baking pan in the centre.

When the oven is very hot place the baguettes in the hot baking pan and turn over then slash them with a very sharp knife or razor blade.

Bake for approx 15 minutes.

Let cool

This one comes courtesy of Si and Dave, the Hairy Bikers from their recent European 'Bakeation' , however I have made some tweaks.

When they did it, it looked a bit complicated an intimidating, but actually the timing of it is very forgiving.

It's become a definite family favourite and so wins a place on the Glass Oven Blog....

Ingredients

The Bread Bit

500g Strong White Bread Flour + extra for dusting
2tbsp Olive oil
2tsp flaked sea salt
1x7g fast action bread yeast (or 2tsp)
300ml warm water

The Sauce

1 tin chopped or plum tomato
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 small onion
1tsp dried mixed herbs or oregano
Salt & Pepper
A sprinkling of hot chilli powder

The ‘Topping’

1x125g ball of mozzarella
1 pack of prosciutto (about 4-5 slices)
6 ish slices of pepperoni
A handful of chopped button mushrooms
A fistful of fresh bay leaves
About a tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves

Method

Make the bread dough

Combine the salt, flour and yeast.

I use a whisk – much quicker than sieving it and has the same effect.

Make a well and drop the 2 tbsp of olive oil in.

Mix in the 300ml of warm water (use 1/3 boiling 2/3 cold to get the right temp)

Mix the flour and water etc together to form a ball of dough.

On a floured surface knead for 5 mins until the dough is nice and smooth.

You may need to sprinkle extra flour if the dough is really sticky, but don’t do it too much otherwise your dough will be too dry.

See Tiger Bread for tips on kneading.

Put the dough back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with lightly oiled clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled in size.

The Sauce

Whilst the dough is rising, finely chop your onion.

Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a med-low heavy based non stick frying pan.

Fry the onions for about 5 mins until soft.

Add the crushed garlic for the last minute of this.

Then pour in your tin of tomatoes.

If using whole plumb tomatoes I usually use a potato masher to crush them up a bit.

Add the dried herbs,

caster sugar,

and salt & pepper to taste.

I like to bung in a sprinkle of chilli powder and paprika just for a little kick...

Mix together and leave the mixture to bubble away, stirring occasionally until it’s nice and thick (about 10-15 mins), then remove from the heat to cool.

(At this point this blogger is starting to get really fed up with the way this blummen application doesn't understand what WYSWIG actually means, so apologies if the photos and text start getting slightly out of order!)