After the inspiration from Gérard, I headed to the kitchen. Gently stretching the balls of dough into perfect ovals, then tenderly rolling them up ... with minimal movements and Zen-like timing ... I formed two boastfully beautiful bacchanalian batards.
Then, an innovation (copied from others) ... I covered the loaves with a baking tray before placing them in the oven. This cover kept the steam surrounding the bread as it baked, thus improving the rise in the oven.
Voila!
