BAGUETTES

Bread!!! I love bread. And I love Baguettes. I grew up with this kind of bread and that cannot be easily forgotten. Let’s make bread!

Ingredients:

1 cup and 1 tablespoon water

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

3 cups bread flour

2 ¼ teaspoons yeast

I normally use my bread machine to make the dough for my baguettes. You can make it by hand too. Or even a stand mixer or a good food processor that can make dough bread.

I used the bread machine and I put the ingredients in this order: water, oil, sugar, salt, flour and yeast. I selected the program just to knead the dough and turn the bread machine on. The machine will do its job and then it will let the dough grow.

If you want to make your dough by hand, you can do it placing the flour on a table making a well with the water inside. Add the rest of the ingredients and make the dough. And then you will have to knead the dough properly. Knead and knead till the dough is elastic. Let it rise in a bowl covered by a wet cloth.

It is important to let the dough rest and rise. To make good bread you cannot do it in a fast way. Good bread takes its time. Let it rest for an hour or so.

Now shape your Baguettes and let them rest for an extra 30 minutes on the oven tray.

A word about humidity. I like crusty baguettes. And to get that you need to have humidity in the oven. This is sometimes difficult to get. The problem is that if you do not have an oven that can provide the necessary humidity, you will have to take care of it. What I do is opening the oven two or three times and spraying the baguettes with some water. By doing this you give humditiy but you also lower the temperature in the oven while opening the oven door. You have to be quick so that the temperature does not get too low.

Let’s come back to our baguettes. Once they have rested, we will start baking them. Make some cuts in the baguettes. Put the baguettes on an oven tray. This tray must be lightly greased. The oven must be preheated to 450ºF. Put another tray with water at the bottom of the oven. Try not to open too much the door of the oven when you spray some water on the baguettes. And be quick doing it. Losing temperature is not good. The time of the baguettes on the oven will depend on the times you open the door and on the water you spray. Minimum 30 minutes. Make sure the bread is well baked.

And then you will have your homemade Baguettes. Crusty Baguettes!

Enjoy!

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CARDAMOM BROWNIES

Brownies! Chocolate Brownies with a plus. Cardamom! You are going to love these brownies.

Ingredients:

5 ounces chocolate, sweet or bittersweet, finely chopped

7 ounces unsalted butter

4 eggs

4 ounces sugar

The seeds of 12 cardamom pods, ground in a mortar

3 ½ ounces flour

1 cup of almonds, roasted and chopped

First we will melt the chocolate. It will be easier if you have it in little pieces. You can melt it in the microwave oven or using the bain-marie method. Anyway, you have to be careful so that the chocolate does not get burned. I prefer to use a good chocolate without milk, but, of course, you can use chocolate with milk. Use the one you prefer. Once it is melted, reserve.

Then we will put the butter in a big bowl. If we melt it a bit previously, the better. Then, add the eggs, little by little, mixing them with the butter. The next thing is adding the sugar and mixing well. Then, add the cardamom, well ground in a mortar. Mix well and add the melted chocolate. We only will have to add the flour and the almonds. Mix again so that everything is ready for the oven.

Now we can put it in an oven tray that must be lightly greased with a little butter. Put the tray in the oven, preheated to 350ºF. Bake for about 25 minutes, then turn the oven off but let the tray in the oven for five more minutes before taking it out. Let I cool a bit and cut in squares to get your delicious brownies. Now you will have your brownies. Not for long! Enjoy!

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