Tafe Ryde: Baking ficelle bread

Recently I asked Chef Dominique if I could be the one to bake bread in class...  

Frankly speaking, I was not sure if that was a good idea...  Hahaha. But bake I did,  and for three classes I did. 

For the purpose of this post,  I will limit it to just my experience in baking ficelle bread. 

So yes,  I took plenty of notes..  I realised that in the second class I was baking ficelle bread,  without my notes I was essentially lost.  

My other classmate had differing ideas on how to prepare the bread. We were debating on the best way to dock to bread, but as I had already written it in my notes,  I decided to follow mine,  and not as per her suggestion.  

Hey,  I am the one baking okay? 

Preparing the yeast.  We had two different teachers when I was baking ficelle bread.  

Chef Dominique wanted to only use fresh yeast,  whereas Chef Max insisted I just use dried yeast.  I tried both.  

I also had tried making the mixture in both two mixing bowls,  and one in one.  This also was dependent on the chef who insisted on making it their way...  Oh well. 

Fresh thyme in the garden.  

Freshly picked rosemary from the garden.  I actually found some in a bowl when I was at Lentils today...  So I guess rosemary does have more than one use? 

Plaiting the bread dough.  

Freshly baked bread... Looking hot and tempting.  Miam Miam. 

Some key notes to take away from my ficelle bread baking experience:

1) Adjusting of moisture is essential in preparing the mixture.  Sometimes more liquid is needed,  or more flour may be necessary when mixture is too wet.

2) Allocate enough time for yeast in bread to rise. You don't want hard bread.