When I gave my husband three choices from what I wanted to bake from Paul Hollywood's cookbook, he chose bread sticks. I am not sure if he was craving those bread sticks from Olive Garden, but we both agreed, these were better. Enter delicious Truffle Ficelles! (I'm sure Paul Hollywood would gawk at being in the same paragraph as Olive Garden, ha!
My personal challenge: baking my way through "How to Bake". This post is my experience baking and learning new skills from tackling each recipe in Paul Hollywood's, "How to Bake". I will also document any recipe changes that I made - mainly as a result of not having the ingredients on hand (i.e., we never have regular sugar in the house) - and how the recipe fared. I will not be providing the recipes that are in his book.
I can't believe that I have completed five "How to Bake" recipes. Wow! I guess I have the lockdown to thank for more time in the kitchen, and thus, more time to challenge myself with Paul Hollywood's "How to Bake". Now, if only I could keep up with blogging as much as I am baking.
For this recipe, there were no special requests, per se. I did have a small bottle of untouched truffle oil sitting on our kitchen counter that was just begging to be used. I guess, I hesitated to use it because of the high cost for such a small bottle, and I could never find just the right recipe for this pungent, earthy oil - a vegan mac and cheese, or vegan mushroom risotto seemed too obvious (but do not be mistaken, I tried those recipes, too).
After all of my pondering, I finally came across the recipe Truffle Ficelles in "How to Bake". Not only was "ficelles" fun to say on repeat as I threw in each new ingredient into the mixing bowl, but I was finally able to use the truffle oil, in what I considered, a more unique recipe.
These breadsticks were as delicious as the ingredients seemed listed together in the recipe book. I mean, how could you go wrong with oregano, truffle oil, and my addition of flaky sea salt? Let me help: you cannot go wrong.
I am abashed to admit that my husband and I easily devoured these perfectly light and fluffy breadsticks in less than 24 hours. I mean, to be fair, the last direction does say, "Eat within 24 hours of baking". And, that we did.
Here are some of the lessons that I learned:
Bench Scrapper. This might be one of the best small kitchen tool that I have purchased over the years. Not only do I feel super professional whipping out my bench scrapper anytime that I am working with dough, but it is insanely useful. I can more easily cut the dough into sections. I can clean my workspace easier by gathering the excess flour into a pile, and pushing the leftover flour into the compost bin. I can also use it to scoop up freshly chopped veggies without dulling my knives. There are many other uses that would double this list I have started, so I will leave you to your own research.
Shaping Dough. As you can tell from the photos, I struggled with shaping the ficelles into perfectly even, and thin pieces. In the directions, it described not knocking back the dough after the first rise in order to keep as much air as possible in the dough, so my gentle approach resulted in less than ideal-shaped breadsticks. I guess this is a skill to perfect with continued baking. Do you have any tips or tricks with overworking or knocking out the air? If you do, please let me know in the comments below!
Throw Out Discipline. Often times I can control my hunger pangs, and patiently wait for the baking to be fully completed, but the deep, almost garlicky and musky aroma of the truffle oil was too much to withstand. With my husband out in the wood shop, I dove into the first batch, while the second sheet baked to outwardly light and golden, and inwardly fluffy perfection. I will admit that I have absolutely no regrets, or judgement for my lack of control. I am happy that I baked nine breadsticks, so it only appeared that my husband and I were evenly splitting the ficelles. I did, later on, come clean about the "baker's nine". If you do not do this in the kitchen with every recipe, I encourage you to make a little extra for yourself - after all, it is your personal reward, and isn't why they have a baker's dozen?
To Be Crispy or Not? The introductory blurb about the truffle ficelles described them as a "very thin baguette" with a "crisp, open-texture", but a mini baguette, these were not. Some would argue that I did not execute the recipe well, but the only way I can describe the version that I made is similar to an amped up version of Olive Garden breadsticks. I only assume that these homemade versions use less ingredients, and thus, are somewhat healthier by the simple fact of the ingredients sourced. Thus, to not be crispy. I like how these breadsticks turned out, slightly crispy texture on the bottom with an overly warm and airy texture inside.
Flaky Sea Salt. I will always be a fan of sea salt sprinkled on freshly baked bread. I love the initial zing of the salt coupled with the full bite of a piece of bread. In case you do not know, salt regulates yeast growth - slows the carbon dioxide bubbles from expanding too rapidly - so do not fold more salt into your dough than the recipe calls. If you also seek that extra salt taste in every bite, wait until the dough is fully risen, and sprinkle on top just before baking.
On that salty note, I hope that you find a recipe book you enjoy, or this one, that I am currently baking my way through. Either way, enjoy baking and nourishing yourself and your family.
All my light and all my love. Namaste.
xx,
Jordan
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