Lazy woman's bread part 4: Batard

So far we have eaten 4 pizzas, two loaves of bouhl and the last thing out of that batch we had were Batard.  These are great for individual loaves for sandwiches or whatever.

The nice thing about artisan bread is that once you get these few steps down almost all of the variations start out the same.  Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  And similar to the other breads we have done you sprinkle the top of your dough with flour and take off a hunk of dough.  This time about the size a a large peach.  Roll it down and under with your hands forming it into a ball.   I formed 6 of these for our dinner of Italian beef. 

Then you can practice your playdough snake making skills.   Really, just roll them in your hands that same way . Sprinkle your stone with corn meal and let them rise for 20 minutes.

 Just before baking sprinkle the top of your mini loaves with flour and take a sharp knife and cut about 1/4 of the way through each loaf.

 I do about 3 slits each and this is what they look like pre-baking.

 After approximately 20 minutes they will look something like this.

And when you serve up these mini loaves with this or just about anything you will get rave reviews.  I promise.