A baguette is a long, relatively thin loaf of crusty bread made in France. In the 20th century, they grew to take on iconic status as a universally-recognizable symbol of French food.
A bread couche is a bed made of stiff fabric for shaped bread dough to rise in. It is used for bread that is baked free-standing, not in pans. It helps the dough keep its shape while proofing and rising.
Broad bean flour is made from dried, uncooked broad beans in pods. The dark, tough spines on the bean pods are usually removed before grinding. The classic French baguette contains broad bean flour. The broad bean flour will be up to 2 % of what’s in the flour that is used, which is usually Farine…
A Ficelle is a long, cylinder-shaped French bread. A Ficelle has crispy brown, split-top crust, and a chewy interior with air-pockets. It is identical to a baguette, including the production method and the scoring on the top, except it is made much more thinly. Generally, a Ficelle will be the same length as a baguette,…
A French bread pan is an American innovation to help home bakers make French-style baguettes. In France, there is no such thing actually called a “French bread pan.” French bread pans are two or three long half-tubes joined at the sides, used for making baguettes in. The assumption in the name is that the type…
Poolish is a starter leavener. You use all of it in making your bread. This is still considered the method of choice for making French baguettes.
Quignon usually refers to the heel end of a loaf of crusty bread, such as a baguette, particularly when torn off. Sometimes people use the word “Quignon” to refer to a thick wedge of bread from any part of the loaf, whether cut or torn off.
A simple, inexpensive take on Beef Wellington
Makes a good lunch with a leafy salad.
This is very tasty with the leeks, but you can use sliced onions instead if you have onions to hand.
