Golden Semolina Torpedo

This Golden Semolina Torpedo comes from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Bread Bible. I was craving bread, as usual, and wanted to use some more of the semolina flour that I had in the freezer so this easy bread seemed to be appropriate. While this bread was good, with a nice yellow crumb and good chew, it was far from excellent. There is something different to the flavor of semolina/durum, but I just cant put my finger on it. I think that I was too impatient to wait the full time for the sponge to ferment and that's why the flavor was so... simple. Underdeveloped, perhaps? In any case, homemade and underdeveloped is always better than store bought and mass produced. Although this loaf did satisfy my craving, there is an important lesson learned here: good bread is always worth the wait.
Sponge ingredients.Adding waterto complete the sponge.The remaining dry ingredientssprinkled over the sponge.The sponge is rising and peeking through the flour blanket. Mixing of the sponge and flour blanket. I turned it out to knead,and wound up with the tiniest dough ball ever!Here the dough is risen. I pat it out into a rectangle to form a batard. Fold in the top to the center to form a triangle. Sort of looks like a circus- thing. What are they called? Fold the tip into the center of the rectangle and seal. Roll the rest of the dough up and taper the ends. You have a batard! Or a torpedo. Call it what you want. I like batard better- it makes me sound like I know what I'm talking about. Slashed batard.

Here it is baked. I think I need to lower my oven temp, what do you think?