Tuesday we baked off our baguette and whole wheat dough, and then made brioche dough. We were apparently supposed to have a vocab quiz (whoops, missed that announcement), but Chef had a root canal, and so didn’t feel like giving it or talking much.
We learned how to roll baguette dough, which involves pinching the dough underneath while rolling it until it's tight. Like most things with cooking, it's a feeling rather than something that can be really described. But first you have to scale them out to 13 oz - in France it's exactly 11 oz, and the government can apparently shut a business down if they don't do this exactly. At least that's what Chef says. Once you've formed a roll, flatten it out to a rectangle. Then fold over and pinch until you have a log. Hand over hand, roll it out evenly, until it's about 16 inches. Seal it, and move to full sheet baking pan, with seal down. Allow to rise. Once it rises, spray with water, sprinkle with flour, then make five slashes. Baguettes need to be steamed, so once the pan is in the oven, throw in ice and spray into the oven. Cook until golden brown. That is one of mine in the middle - Tennessee's are sandwiching mine. My other one was on Irish's sheet. Whole wheat: same rolls method as yesterday. 
That’s the one Tennessee ripped into before I had a chance to take the photo.
Herb Foccacia - our's was delicious. We (Tennessee, Irish and I) made quadruple the recipe because Chef used half of ours to make his demo. It got huge!
It's a really simple recipe (we made 4x this), 10 oz water, 3/4 oz fresh yeast, 14 oz bread flour, 1/2 oz olive oil, and 1/4 oz salt. Straight Dough Method. Once rises, spray 1/2 sheet pan, put down parchment, spray again. Beat down the dough, then roll out to size of pan. Flour well, then fold to transfer, push to fill pan. Pour olive oil over, and spread out. Press into dough with tips of fingers. Lots! Have fun with this step! The oil will pool into the dips. Top with rosemary and a little bit of salt. Proof, then bake. Oops, we accidentally cut into this, which apparently Chef has said we weren't supposed to. 
I didn't hear him say it, and neither did Tennessee - oh well, that meant I got to take it home to freeze it! I'm kind of running out of room in my freezer since the company who owns my building clearly believes single people don't need fridges that are real sizes...
Brioche
3 oz milk, 1 egg, 1 oz fresh yeast, 2 oz bread flour
4 eggs, 2.5 oz sugar, 1/2 oz salt, 18 oz bread flour
7 oz butter
Sponge Method: scald milk and cool to 95F, whisk in egg and yeast, then mix with hand 2 oz bread flour. Cover, proof
Add remaining ingredients, minus butter. Mix to full gluten development, mount in butter, little pieces at a time or the dough gets greasy.
We're allowing this to rise overnight.
Lessons Learned:
Rolling baguettes into logs is really hard! Chef says it just takes a lot of practice. And Brioche is really really buttery. I felt kind of disgusting throwing it into the mixer, since the room was so hot, it had become really gooey in the monkey bowl and I had to scoop/dig it out. Damnit. Okay, I had this all set up in word because I had lots of photos, but it didn't copy properly and I have a lot to accomplish this afternoon because we leave for my sister's wedding after class tomorrow... I'll try it again some time next week. Speaking of, I am back to work tomorrow. It may delay my ability to get posts up at the rate I have been. Sorry!
I. Love. Baking. I have always loved it, but I. Love. Baking. Today we paired up (Tennessee and I) and made three doughs: soft roll dough, 30% whole wheat dough, and baguette dough. We only baked off the soft roll dough and the others are rising overnight in the cooler. I also really like Chef C. He's nice, and has a ton of experience baking. He said he started around 10, and was sent to CIA (Culinary Instititute of America - THE premiere culinary school in America) at 16...that is incredible. He's been the pastry chef at hotels in Vegas, commercial kitchens, and restaurants. He has 20 years of experience in baking and patisserie, and he's so young! We went over the syllabus, and then he did a brief demo on the Straight Dough Method. Then we had a go. Straight Dough Method:-liquid first-add yeast and mix in-add flour-add salt-add remaining ingredients-put the mixer to work! speed 1 (1 min), speed 2 (7 min). Stretch dough, gliding over fingers, to see if you can make a 'window' (dough is see-through without stretching), and then allow to rise. Soft Roll10 oz water3/4 oz fresh yeast22 oz bread flour1 oz nonfat dry milk solids2 oz sugar2 oz butter1 ea egg1/2 oz saltMix: straight dough methodmakeup: 18-20 oz per pan loaf; 2 oz dinner roll shapesgarnish: egg wash, sesame seeds, or poppy seedsbaking; 325-350F convection30% Whole Wheat 10 oz water3/4 oz fresh yeast15 oz bread flour7 oz whole wheat flour1 oz NFDMS2 oz sugar2 oz butter1 oz egg1/2 oz saltMixing: straight dough methodMakeup: 18-20 oz per pan loaf; 2 oz dinner roll shapesgarnish: egg wash, sesame seeds, or poppy seedsbaking: 325-350F convectionBaguette15 oz water1/2 oz fresh yeast24.5 oz bread flour1/2 oz saltmixing: straight dough methodmakeup: 2 ea, 13 oz, 18-21 in; 5 slashes for baguette and biased scissor cuts for Epi (wheat stalk)panning: Semolina on full sheet pangarnish: dust with bread flour prior to slashing, if desired; seed mix on episbaking: 400-425F convection with steamSeriously, I may start baking my own bread at home. Well, maybe at least try it, because my studio only has a 3/4 oven. But it doesn't take as long as I thought, so it's feasible. And considering how much a loaf of bread seems to be these days...Russia accused Tennesse and I of being a "clique" today. We weren't purposely excluding anyone, but Irish is out of town with her sick mother-in-law, and we were partners... Rico was with Nemo, and Russia was with T. And then I could hear Rico and Nemo talking about me, but I don't know why, and I don't know that I really want to know why. I have to be careful I don't get pulled into gossipy/venting conversations. I've been the victim of that before, and I'm really trying to stay away from that. I went back to work today. I am not happy about it. I am much happier at school. As much as I used to love school psych, and still love working with adolescents, I don't know if it is the career for me anymore. I still don't want to be in a kitchen, but should I really stay in a field I'm so unhappy in, even if i think the main reason I'm unhappy is my boss? And that my role in this school only uses maybe a quarter of my skill set? I have to job search again this year (I couldn't find a good high school opening last year), but if I can't find anything this spring, I think I'll have to find a different field. Sad. I really love working with adolescents. Lessons Learned:If the recipe calls for dry yeast, you can use fresh, just double the measurement. When using dry yeast, use warm water (95-105F) to activate the yeast. If using fresh yeast, use cold water if baking same day, but use warm water if going to ferminate overnight. Salt kills yeast, but putting the flour in first to the mix serves as a buffer. Yeast expels gas which causes dough to rise, but dies at 140F.p.s. I changed the comments section so now anyone can comment...but if i get spam, i'll have to change it back. I wish it would allow me to let both google accounts and openid to sign in, but it doesn't...And Sejica, hope you enjoy the photo! There will be more coming. And I might have time this week to post some chicken recipes for you... hope you are settling in well!
That’s the one Tennessee ripped into before I had a chance to take the photo. 
I didn't hear him say it, and neither did Tennessee - oh well, that meant I got to take it home to freeze it! I'm kind of running out of room in my freezer since the company who owns my building clearly believes single people don't need fridges that are real sizes...
