Friday, February 29, 2008

French Bread

It is that time month of the again …Daring Bakers are baking French bread all over the world. Our wonderful host this month is Mary from The Sour Dough. Now on to the bread making!

First, I would like to mention that I am new to the world of yeast. I believe I only have three or four yeast recipes under my belt. And to recreate Julia Child’s French bread recipe was crazy/scary. I am glad that I participated, but I probably will never make this again. There were so many steps to the recipe and the recreation of a baker’s oven. The whole process made me appreciate what an art & talent bread making really is. For me, I think I will stick to La Brea Bakery baguettes.

La Brea Bakery delivers fresh bread every morning to Whole Foods and farmer’s markets in the Los Angeles area. And getting up at 6:30 am to ensure that I get the baguette of my choice is nothing compared to baking it.

I also must mention that I decided to make little rounds instead of the traditional shape. Why? Because only two of us reside at casa de Gigi Cakes and this was a ton bread for just two. We decided to have a BBQ with a couple friends and I turned the French bread into hamburger rolls. And I added sesame seeds to the tops of some and others were left plain. The French bread did a great job at absorbing all the wonderful hamburger juices and condiments.

If you are interested in the recipe you can visit The Sour Dough. Before I go, let me tell you, that the Daring Bakers has many talented bakers and some of them solely bake bread on their blog, so go and check them out here. Until next month, adios!

43 comments:

Katie said...

Gigi your rolls look great, you got them to stay lovely and round. What a brilliant idea using them for hamburger buns. I bet your guests were highly impressed.

Pixie said...

You did a wonderful job Gigi; I don't think I would follow this particular recipe again but will make bread again in the future. However, I'm not living in LA!

L Vanel said...

Your bread looks really good! I love the seeds - by the time I was done I was just looking at the miracle of having followed the instructions and didn't take one step further! The whole logistics involved in getting bread good is something I can relate to. I did enjoy the year I spent in L.A. though.

zorra vom kochtopf said...

Congrats, your breads look great! I think the long recipe is only scary if you are a newbie. It's easier than it sounds/looks. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I would never know you are new to yeast! The loaves looks fab!

Anne said...

You're a well rounded baker and I admire you for that. Your bread came out beautiful!

steph- whisk/spoon said...

nice bread! i failed to make the challenge this month, so hats off to you!

steph- whisk/spoon said...

nice bread! i failed to make the challenge this month, so hats off to you!

Big Boys Oven said...

Your bread looks good, so inviting, you did a great job and not like me, I think mine is a bit burnt!

Rachel said...

The round rolls look lovely...Beautiful!

Chibog in Chief said...

oh gigi these are great looking french bread!! great job for this month's challenge!!

Dawn0fTime said...

Those look fantastic! I can only imagine how wonderful a burger would taste on bread like this!

Helene said...

Gorgeous bread! I love hamburgers with french bread rolls! I am sure it was a great bbq, especially breaking bread with friends!

Warda said...

- Perfect for sandwiches indeed. Great Job for somebody who isn'y comfortable with yeast.

Anonymous said...

Lovely color and photo! I agree, this was a crazy/scary recipe. Well done!

Megan said...

Your so right. $1.50 will get me a warm loaf from my grocery store and it only takes 5 minutes! lol

Proud Italian Cook said...

You would never know you're new to yeast, everything looks fantastic. I love La Brea bread too, and get it at the time. BTW, you have a scrumptious blog!!!

Anonymous said...

Hamburger buns! Brilliant! This challenge sure made me appreciate La Brea Bakery even more!

Jerry said...

Rolls look fabulous!

Cookie baker Lynn said...

French hamburger rolls - what a great idea? Good job on making it.

Mary said...

Your lovely French hamburger buns look beautiful!

slush said...

Great idea making burger buns. They look fantastic. Fab job Gigi!

kellypea said...

I'm with you on probably not making this particular recipe again. But I'm curious now about how other recipes compare. Must. Find. Out. Your rolls are great and I'll bet they were pretty tasty, too!

glamah16 said...

You dont seem like your not used to working with yeast. These look amazing. Good idea about the hamburger rolls.

jasmine said...

Gigi

These look great...actually...your comment re hamburger is making me leap to steak...steak on these buns...with sauteed onions, mushrooms and a bit of blue cheese...

mmmmm

j

Jaime said...

those are beautiful! and i agree, i'd rather just go out and buy mine ;)

test it comm said...

Nice looking bread.

Allison said...

mmmmm I'm imagining the bread soaked in hamburger juice and condiments. YUM! Great job!

meokha said...

beautiful bread!

Brilynn said...

It was definitely a lengthy process, but one more thing you can cross off your list that you've done! (Also on that list for me is making puff pastry from scratch, I've done it and now I don't have to...)

ostwestwind said...

What a great idea to shape rolls, they look great

Ulrike from Küchenlatein

Shaheen said...

Thats a lovely bread. I should I topped my bread with some sesame too, and one with some herbs maybe!

Cakespy said...

Nice shape, nice texture, and I like the sesame seeds too! Nice choice for a smaller household!

breadchick said...

great rolls and I bet they were fantastic with hamburgers

Thanks for baking with Sara and I

Annemarie said...

French bread hamburger loaves - is that what they call international cuisine? ;) i would love to do this recipe again, but I would also love to have a day with 48 hours in it so I don't feel guilty about all the time it takes.

Mindy said...

Nice, Nice.

Hamburger on French bread- Ooh I bet it did slurp up those meaty juice nicely---

(!)

priscilla joy said...

Neat neat gigi!! They look picture perfect and I am ready for a piece! *smile*

Unknown said...

I'm glad you made it through, even if you might not do the recipe again. You are lucky to be so close to such a great bakery!

Mandy said...

french bread as hamburger bun? That sounds interesting. Good job on the challenge.

eatme_delicious said...

Oo yum those buns look great!

Nora B. said...

Gigi, well done with the challenge. Does this mean that you can call your hamburgers "French hamburgers" ? ;-)

Deborah said...

Great job - I love that you used them as hamburger buns!

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

Nice! I just joined Daring Bakers. I'm so excited about the challenge this month!