If you shape your loaves of French bread...
...and then sit down in the office to bury yourself in the task of updating Quicken and writing a monthly money report, you will wander out an hour later, feeling all pleased with yourself.
That is, until you walk into the kitchen and suddenly remember that you left bread rising.
With no timer.
Shoot.
No matter how quickly you get those loaves into the oven, they're going to be pretty darn flat.
I see croutons and bread crumbs in my future.
(This is the French bread recipe I was using, and it does normally turn out lovely, crusty, delicious loaves of bread.)
LOL! Guilty as charged in doing that! Actually I left something for a two hour rise and went grocery shopping with my wife and came back to rather expanded dough that then collapsed similar to this. I think I saved it but I don't remember.
I know Cooks recommended these at one point to solve your problem:
http://www.amzn.com/B00004S4U7
I'm not a big fan of baguettes (at least at home) but you could split it down the middle and have subs with it.
You could split it open and make a flat bread style pizza out of it. I have done that before for the kids with french bread and they love it. The sauce soaks in a lot so I usually just do it without sauce and thick on cheese. Toast at 350 until cheese is melted.
I second this suggestion. Yummy!
I agree! One of my kids' favorite ways to have pizza when they were growing up. I always pre- toast the bread just a bit before adding the toppings and putting it in the oven. Makes it less bready and nice and crispy.
You could split them in half and make the Pioneer Woman's Olive Cheese bread...
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/olive_cheese_br/
I saw the episode the other day and have wanted to make it every since!!
In future, I've had successful third rises as well. The yeast flavor will be more strongly developed, and it won't rise quite as high as it would have the second time, but it will rise and be yummy 🙂
I thought of that, but by the time I found the bread, it was getting to close to my bedtime, so I had to throw it in the oven and deal with whatever came out!
I could have balled it all up and put it in the fridge, but then it would have been REALLY yeasty-tasting by the time morning came.
oops - I meant to make this it's own comment rather than a reply. Sorry!
Bread pudding or french toast also come to mind. If it were me, though, I'd first see if it would be OK for panini or subs.
But it rarely is me. My kitchen has magic, yeast-retardant properties that results in the world' slowest-rising breads.
Mine is the opposite, at least on warm days! During the summer, I really have to keep an eye on things while they're rising or they get out of control fast.
Mmmmmm, looks so good!
That actually looks perfect for sub sandwiches!
I'll admit, I have SO done that before! My solution though was to cut them in half making them even thinner, then using them for the crust of french-toast pizzas, thereby saving my hard work and making my husband (an admitted pizza junkie) very happy!
~Taylor-Made Ranch~
Wolfe City, Texas
Croutons was my first thought. My second was a French bread strata, either savory with cheese, peppers, onions and sausage/ham/bacon or sweet, as overnight French toast.
FLATBREAD!!!! 🙂
One week I let the bread rise too long, so it fell flat like that. The next week I was so nervous about it, I didn't let it rise long enough and it fell flat like that. I finally found the sweet spot and it's been significantly better.
Love your blog... I have a bread making question. My dough rises soft and fluffy the first rise, then when I shape it into bread loaves, it doesn't rise very much... i get heavy small loaves. When I shape dough into buns or rolls the dough rises perfectly. HELP! what am I doing wrong?
Hmm, that's weird. Are you shaping your loaves by rolling them out into a long rectangle and then rolling up the dough, starting from the short side?
Yes that is how I shape them, been researching - think it may be due to high altitude- we are in the mountains of West Virginia - going to make some adjustments and see if it helps. Thanks for your help.
It doesn't sound like it was an option for you this time, but I've had really good luck with a third rise as well - I mean, not that I'VE ever forgotten bread proofing and had to punch it down and reshape it and let it rise again... But, you know, if I HAD, I'm sure it would have worked ok.