It’s that time again: time for a Disney Saturday snack! Since the Disney parks and resorts are currently closed, and we’re all in this quarantine thing together, I thought that today’s Saturday snack could be something that could be whipped up in a kitchen. I think we’re all looking for ways to connect with Disney during this tough time, and a little time in the kitchen creating something Disney-inspired seemed to be just the thing. If you missed the last Saturday Snacks article that highlighted some of the delicious treats available at Vanellope’s Sweets and Treats on the Disney Dream, click here.
I have a deep and enduring love for Remy and all things Ratatouille. Remy is my favorite Disney character, and I want ALL THE THINGS emblazoned with his sweet Little Chef face.
Back in the day, all of our Walt Disney World visits included a long pause at Writer’s Stop in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. For those who didn’t have the chance to enjoy a few delightful minutes in Writer’s Stop, it was part bookstore, part coffee shop, and part merchandise location, and it was located in the now long gone Streets of America area, just around the corner from Sci-Fi Dine In Theater. It was a heavenly place with plush couches and copious amounts of Disney books and publications. Oh Writer’s Stop, how we miss miss ye. I digress.
During our visit to Writer’s Stop in 2012, I bought a cookbook, and yes, it’s a cookbook for kids. Mind you, I didn’t purchase this cookbook for my kids; I bought it for myself because, well, Remy’s on the cover. Ratatouille What’s Cooking? A Cookbook for Kids turned out to be an adorable book filled with super-doable Ratatouille-inspired recipes.
I had a hankering for a baguette several weeks ago, and the yummy “A Classic Baguette” recipe came to mind, so I picked up fresh yeast packets at the store. Life went the way life often goes, and I never got around to making the recipe. Necessity is the mother of invention, right? This week with its weird quarantine stay-at-home days turned out to be the perfect week to give the recipe a whirl.
While I can’t post the recipe (hello, copyright laws), used copies of the cookbook are currently available online. Click here to check out some of the purchasing options that are available on Amazon.
Most of the ingredients needed for the recipe are items that you’ll likely already have in your pantry: flour, yeast, corn meal, etc.
The first step was to dissolve the yeast in warm water. I’m not the expert in dissolving yeast, but I swished it around with a mini whisk and made sure the water wasn’t too hot, and it seemed to do its thing.
To the yeast mixture I added cups and cups of flour, water, and a bunch of elbow grease (hello, kneading the dough for ten whole minutes), and I ended up with a sizable mound of dough. On a side note, it turns out that kneading dough is good for helping you to expend some of your quarantine feelings. And, it turns out, ten minutes is a long time. I had to keep coaxing myself to keep going and not give up early. I’m glad that I hung in there.
I then coated a bowl with oil, rolled the ball of dough around in the oil, and covered the bowl with a damp kitchen towel.
The kitchen towel had to be Ratatouille-themed, of course. At this point, I set a timer and walked away from the bowl for two hours. If you’ve made yeast-based bread before, you know that it takes time. And patience. Hang in there.
After two hours, the dough had doubled in size. I was so glad that it was doing what it was supposed to do. There’s always doubt in the back of my mind when I work with yeast, and, even though I’ve made this recipe before, I still had my initial worries.
I beat the dough down as the recipe calls for, divided it, and rolled it into two baguettes. It would need one additional hour to rise, and then it’d be time to throw them in the oven.
Twenty-five minutes in the oven, et voila! Two fresh baguettes! The recipe advises that the bread should be eaten or frozen the day that it’s made, so that’s just what I did. I shared a baguette with my hubby, and tossed the other in the freezer to accompany another night’s dinner.
If you’re someone who loves Disney-inspired recipes, Jackie wrote an article earlier this week about some of the Disney recipes that she’s loved over the years.
If you’d like to check out even more Disney recipes, including those featured in the parks and resorts, be sure to jump in and peruse the treasure trove that is the Disney Recipe Exchange.
Do you have a few favorite Disney recipes? What Disney-inspired treats are you whipping up these days? Please share the deliciousness in the comments section below.
Bon Appétit!
Ready to give it a whirl? The baguette recipe is below:
A Classic Baguette
Ingredients
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 3/4 to 4 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the water. Pour the remaining water into a large bowl and add 1 cup of the flour and the salt. Add the yeast mixture and enough flour to form a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes.
2. Grease a large bowl with oil and drop the dough in, turning to coat the top. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and let it rise in a draft-free area for 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
3. Punch the dough down and divide it in half. On a lightly floured surface, knead each half several times and roll into a snake. Pinch out any air bubbles, then place the snakes on a cookie sheet coated with the cornmeal. Cover and let rise until doubled, and 1 hour.
4. Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Place a metal pan on the bottom rack and pour 1 cup of hot water into the pan (this will create the steam to give your bread a crunchy crust). Using a sharp knife make four diagonal 1/4-inch cuts in the top of the loaves. Place the loaves in the oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool. These loaves are best eaten the day they are made, or frozen. Makes 2 loaves.
