Viva La French...Baguette...

So I decided to make a baguette from scratch in honor of Emile Zola and France.  Making bread from scratch is something I've failed miserably at in the past, but my friend SFR swears it's easy.  She bought me a great book called How to Cook Everything, and I thought that I couldn't fail if I just followed that to the letter.

Well, yes and no.  The final product ended up pretty good, but I think it could use some tweaking.  I used bread flour instead of all-purpose flour, which may have effected the outcome.  I also think adding sugar might make it slightly better as well.  But it was good, and my family ate it, so I guess it passes the test!  We'll see if future forays into bread can do any better..although I may need supervision from my bread making friend.

The biggest issue I had?  Finding yeast!  I went to  a big local grocery store and spent a half hour scouring the baking aisle only to leave empty handed.  I should have just bitten the bullet and asked.  "Excuse me 16-year-old who clearly doesn't want to be bagging my groceries, but do you know if you have any yeast?"

The Baguette
You'll Need:
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tsps salt
1 1/2 tsps yeast
A few tbsps olive oil
About 1 cup warm water

1. Combine the dry ingredients, preferably in a standing mixer or food processor.
2. Gradually add water until the dough forms a ball.  You don't want it to be too sticky or too dry and flaky; add more flour or water to even out the dough if you have that problem.
3. Dump the dough into a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a cool, dry place at room temperature for 3 hours.
4. When the dough has risen, put it on a floured counter or tabletop, and shape into two small baguettes.  You can shape them however you like.  Place them on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap or a cloth so they can rise again, about another hour.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
6. Once the bread has rise again, use a sharp knife to make baguette slashing marks (if you like).  Use olive oil to coat the bread evenly.  Bake until the crust is hard and golden brown, about 20 minutes.  The internal temperature should be around 210 degrees.  
7. Remove from oven, let cool, and enjoy!  Although my family always eats their bread with olive oil and garlic salt, you can try butter, jam, or even cheese if you want to be really French!

I have to say I might retire from yeast breads for awhile..no offense SFR!  But honestly...a lot of work!  Kind of like this movie...

Frying things is fun...

Since Cavalcade is possibly the most  British film I've EVER seen (and that includes Austin Powers in a Union Jack speedo), I thought Fish and Chips would be appropriate.  I actually can't take all the credit, it was my friends that suggested it.

French Fries go under my original category of things-you-don't-make-from-scratch (see my popcorn post).  I actually even bought back-up frozen fries so that we wouldn't go without should mine prove inedible.  Much to my surprise, there are both easy and delicious.  And deep frying something without a fryer, while a little treacherous, was not as difficult as I thought.  Which brings me back to my original point...frying things is fun!

For the Fish...

You'll need:
2 cups Guinness beer
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 egg
At least 3 cups of All-Purpose flour
8 3-oz cutlets of boneless, skinless cod
At least 2 cups canola oil

1. Pour and measure the Guinness, waiting for the foam to settle.
2. Whisk together Guinness, baking soda, salt, pepper and egg.
3. Continuously whisking, add flour in 1/2 cup increments, until the batter thickens and sticks to whisk.  
4. Put about 1 1/2 cups of flour in separate bowl.
5. If they are not already, cut the fish into manageable pieces (about what you would expect your slice of fish to be).  Heat on high about 3/4 cup oil in a large (4-quart) saucepan.  Wait at least 10 minutes, until the oil is definitely hot.
6. Take the fish and dredge in flour, shaking off excess.  Next dredge in Guinness batter, completely covering fish. set aside on a plate.
7. Slice off a small part of the fish and drop it in the oil, to test heat level.  If the oil bubbles and makes the frying noise, you're all set!
8. Fry each piece of fish, about 5 minutes for each side.  When the fish is golden brown, it's finished.  Add more oil as needed.
9. Garnish with lemon and tartar sauce and serve.  Yum!

For the Chips...
You'll need:
Approximately 5 large Russet potatoes
2-4 tbsps Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic Salt
Old Bay Seasoning

1. Preheat the oven 435 degrees.
2. Wash and dry the potatoes.  Slice them lengthwise into circles, and across again into fry sticks.
3. Place the potatoes on a nonstick baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Add garlic salt and Old Bay Seasoning to taste.
4. Bake the fries until golden brown, squishy on the inside and crispy on the outside, about 45 minutes.  Sprinkle salt over the top and serve with ketchup!

*I like this option because it is slightly healthier than frying the fries.  You can fry them as well, which I did with the oil right before I fried the fish.  The taste wasn't that different, but try both and see which works for you!

When you start frying, it's hard to stop.  My friends wanted to fry more things, and we ending up dipping red onions in the batter and frying them as well!  I suddenly understood what I had never before: what makes a frying machine so popular.  We were turning into a mob, shooting quick glances around the kitchen, trying to find other things we could fry.  But in the end the fish and chips were a huge success.  We ate them with malt vinegar, tartar sauce, and ketchup.

In addition, I'll definitely be making my own fries from now on.  They were so easy and I knew exactly what went into them.  I made the freezer fries, and was frightened to see that no matter how long I left them in the oven, they stayed the same color.  Next to my homemade fries, these fries glowed a sickly highlighter yellow. Scary.