French HERB Baguette

I tried out a new recipe found at the back of the 50 lbs. bread flour husband and I bought at Costco last week. It didn't seem right while I was working on the dough. It was not smooth and elastic as a good dough should be. However, I was curious and excited to see on how this bread project would come up and needless to say, I was interested to find out the result, if this is a good recipe or not. So far, this recipe used VINEGAR, a short way to making a sourdough prep since this recipe didn't really call for it. But the vinegar was part of the ingredients needed so I pressumed that has to work out as the sourdough base here. Also, there was no detailed instruction on how to bake this so most likely, the company that printed this pressumed that the baker is an experienced one (to buy a 50-pounder bread flour)! This baguette has milk and butter on it and didn't use olive oil which is the norm. I must say that it really tasted good and the texture is perfect, very soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside.

Since baking bread for two years now has been my avocation, I learned that checking out the baking time is a must since oven temperature varies according to different brand of oven. This herb baguette recipe calls for a 30-minute 400 degrees Fahrenheit baking time but on its 18th minute, it was already baked and was golden brown in color as well! That, told me that If I didn't cross check earlier, it would have burned like the white bread baking experience I had two weeks ago! When I found out this baguette was already done, I was just at that point where I was thinking of covering the pair with aluminum foil so as not to over brown it and then, it was done! Hello!

So, how do you know when your baguette is already baked?

Simple. When you drum it, the sound is hollow- indeed, it is almost like a drum- the sound, the timbre!

To serve this bread, soak each slice (both sides) in melted butter, sprinkled with dried parsley. Truly, this is a delicious one, perfect for any meal at any time of the day!

Bon appetito!