[Mike Nolan]

We had sandwiches--and hot dogs--on the banh mi buns I baked.

[Mike Nolan]

The more we talked about using them as hot dog buns, the more we had to try it--tonight.

Oh, the sacrifices we make for our art.

Pretty darned good! As Diane said, if they keep well we may never need to buy hot dog buns again.

I made these 9 to a batch, for hot dog buns 12 might be a better number, and they'd wind up pretty close to commercial hot dogs buns for carbs per bun. I might have to try them in my silicone hot dog pans.

So to see how well they keep, we stuck one in the freezer, another in a bread bag and the other 3 in a clear plastic box (actually a shoe box but we've been using it as a breadbox, though I'm not sure it's food-safe plastic so I put them on paper towels. I was looking at a bread box on Amazon earlier today, that might be on order soon.

Now I want to try them with some Chicago Italian Beef!

[Mike Nolan]

Laminated doughs are usually a lot of work, having a laminator makes it easier, though.

[Mike Nolan]

More pictures. They're very light, 85 grams of dough per roll and about 61 grams baked weight.

Flavor is pretty good, but does it compare with the rolls I had 30 years ago? Yeah, I think it's in the ballpark, with practice and maybe a little tinkering of the recipe could be even better than that taste memory.

This sandwich really needs some pickled vegetables, though.

Might make good hot dog buns, too. It will be interesting to see what they're like tomorrow, will they soften?

This recipe goes on the 'try again soon' list.

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[Mike Nolan]

I'm baking my first attempt at the banh mi recipe I posted a link to the other day.

Having some issues, and I have one concern about the recipe (seems like it doesn't use enough salt, at 0.44% of flour weight), but they're out of the oven.

I did make them a little smaller, 9 rolls to the batch, rather than 6. I don't think that's a factor. I will probably need a bigger or at least a second baguette pan if this recipe goes into the repertoire.

My dough didn't look as nice as the one in the video, and it didn't slash decently, either.

But if it has the right texture and taste, all is forgiven. Now I need to wait 10 minutes to see if they make crackling noises as they cool (I am hearing some crackling.)

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[Mike Nolan]

Never made butter swim biscuits, wasn't familiar with the term. I've almost given up on making biscuits because my wife always seems to prefer Bisquick ones over my home-made biscuits for things like creamed tuna on biscuits.

Her reaction to 'butter swim biscuits' was: sounds tasty. Not sure if that'd be her reaction if I actually made some though. Summer isn't really biscuit weather for us, this idea might have to sit on the shelf for a few months.

[Mike Nolan]

The color is great (again), the epis held shape fairly well but the slashing on the baguettes didn't go so great, won't affect the flavor a lot, though. Not sure if that means the dough was overproofed or underproofed.

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[Mike Nolan]

The first two pointage en bac loaves, one baguette, one epis, were very good, nice color, an open crumb, excellent flavor. (Could have used a little more salt, possibly, but they're both gone.)

This recipe is one that bakeries and restaurants can use, making up large batches of dough and baking them off as needed throughout the day.

[Mike Nolan]

I mixed up the dough for pointage en bac this evening, will bake some tomorrow and the rest on Sunday morning. No long kneading, mix until shaggy, 3 sets of stretch-and-folds over the next hour, then into the fridge overnight.

Pointage En Bac / Slow Rise Baguettes

[Mike Nolan]

We've been getting a few tomatoes every day now, most of them small (4th of July variety) but we did get one Super Sauce that was about 8 ounces. Looking forward to more of those!

We got a two or three day respite from the hot weather, and that probably means a lot of fruit set, so we should be picking a lot more tomatoes in another month or so.

We have one small purple eggplant so far.

Several of my leek plants are going to seed, that's supposed to be a 'year 2' thing, I may contact Johnny's and ask about that.

[Mike Nolan]

Your meringue work make mine look SO SAD! :sigh:

I'm looking to test a baguette dough recipe this weekend, I think it's essentially the same one (pointage en bas) that Jeffrey Hamelman has in the latest edition of his book.

I'll make some epis for us to eat on Saturday and then Sunday morning I will bake the rest, some as epis, some as baguettes, to take to my wine tasting group on Sunday afternoon. (I'm hoping to take the WSET 3 exam next spring, not that I want to get a job in the wine industry, just to see if I can do it, but part of the test is a blind tasting of two wines, so I found a local group of mostly industry pros that I can taste wines with.)

[Mike Nolan]

There's a food truck in town yesterday and today that is from Cousin's Maine Lobsters, doing lobster rolls. This is a business that was featured on Shark Tank in around 2012 and has grown to around 100 trucks since then. This truck was from the Kansas City area.

They're trying to interest someone in becoming a local franchisee. Based on the line at lunch yesterday, there may be a market here.

We tried that for lunch yesterday and may have them again for supper tonight.

A bit pricey ($24) but there was quite a bit of lobster meat on each one. (One customer was bemoaning the small size of the lobster roll, calling it a ripoff, but I've had lobster rolls in Maine and this was reasonable for the amount of meat, size and price, especially considering that the lobster meat has to be shipped in.)

We had what they call a 'Maine lobster roll', served cold with mayonnaise. They also offer a Connecticut lobster roll, warm with butter, and a garlic butter lobster roll for some strange reason. (I think lobster and garlic are a terrible combination, the garlic drowns out the taste of the lobster, reminding me of the scene about apricots and honey in the movie 'Notting Hill'.)

We might try the warm one tonight.

They also have lobster quesadillas and some other options, and both lobster bisque and clam chowder. (I tried the clam chowder, it was good but not spectacular.)

Service once you got your order placed was reasonable, about 5 minutes.

[Mike Nolan]

I had soup again for supper, with a slice of bread and the last of the custards.

[Mike Nolan]

MMMM, baked beans!

I made another batch of honey wheat bread last night, it's something I can safely eat while the oral surgery heals. (Going very well, thankfully, haven't needed any pain pills since Friday.)

[Mike Nolan]

No, it's: I'll see your cookie and raise you a lemon cake slice.

Joan's response is to push in a pie and say, "I'm all in."

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