Let them eat "Bread"???

OK, so Marie Antoinette did not say "Let them eat Bread." As we all know she really said, "Let them eat Cake." But, in all honesty the word cake just didn't sound right for this month's Daring Baker Challenge, probably because I didn't bake one, even though I'd a ruther it had been cake.

I've certainly been challenged since joining the Daring Bakers several months back. I've made some pretty awesome, if not alien looking, potato bread, some fabulous Bostini Pies, a lovely Buche de Noel and a gorgeous Lemon Meringue Pie!!!

Cake . . . I can bake! Cookies and pies too! Biscuits are no problem for me either, but bread . . . it is my nemesis.

For years, I have tried and only produced tasty looking doorstops, which the many birds in our garden have more than enjoyed. My ex husband used to produce loaves and loaves of lovely fluffy white bread week after week, which was ardently gobbled down by the five kids, and oh yes, me too. It was lovely. Beautifully fluffy and tasty loaves. Well worth the mess he made when he made the kitchen table dance across the kitchen floor while kneading it.



When I found out this month that the challenge was yet another loaf of bread I was struck with fear. I so can not make bread, but I was determined to "rise" to the challenge. (Every pun intended!)

The Sour Dough's Mary and I Like to Cook's Sara were the host's of this month's Daring Baker challenge. The recipe, Julia's Child's French bread from the cookery book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume 2".



My first problem came in reading the recipe which was posted online for all of us. My eyes just couldn't get around it for some reason. Not a problem though, because I work as a chef in a big house for a woman who is as cookbook obsessed as I am, if not worse(can it be possible???), I was able to find a copy of the book up there and photo copy the recipe (all umpteen pages of it) for myself and bring it home to study and work with.

I didn't have pizza stones or baking boards and I was a bit daunted when I read the part about using them, but I plunged in head first anyways and made it to the best of my ability. I have a confession to make now and I am holding my hands up, I did use my bread machine to knead the dough, and for the initial rising. I know . . . the shame of it all. But it did work marvelously!



I really got a bit confused when reading the bits about the shaping and forming of the dough, and I have to confess that by that part I was getting quite tired and so, I confess again. I decided just to make a "Boule" or . . . the lazy woman's way *out* of having to shape French Bread. Besides I was a bit afraid that in moving the dough, which was rather nicely risen by that point, I would somehow destroy the *look* of it and so I shaped the boule onto some parchment paper on my baking sheet for the final rising.

I do have to say that it turned out rather well for this rather inept bread baker and we both really enjoyed eating it. I used the leftovers yesterday to make a rather delicious Meatball Sub Casserole yesterday for our tea, which you can find here on Maries Muses (my other blog) . And, if you are so inclined as to want to try this out for yourself, you can find the recipe for the French Bread in full on the Breadchick Mary's blog,The Sour Dough.



PSSTTT!!!! It was awfully delicious fresh from the oven and spread with some cold butter and peanut butter! (childhood memories kicking in here)

Oh . . . something else I learned this month. Upload your photos right away onto a photo saving site or your husband will think he is doing a good thing and clean up the desktop without telling you and get rid of your best photos. (Can you say "dead man"?) I'm sorry folks, this was all that was left and I only *just* rescued them because he hadn't emptied the garbage that I had left in the photo downloading folder. Phew!!! Oh the shame of it all!



PS - Aunt Fern's Coconut Cookies were the clear winner this week. Look for them real soon and in the meantime, time for another Make Me Bake poll.