FRENCH BREAD FROM SCRATCH

Yes, it can be done and it's easy! I love the

flavor and texture of french bread, but I

don't like the fact that the only way to buy 

it here is previously frozen. The store tries

to make it more desirable by reheating it and 

selling it warm, but the crust is so tough from 

being thawed and heated that it is hard to 

even cut through with a serrated knife.

This recipe is very simple and I have even

put step by step pictures so that you can

follow along with, even if you have never

made a loaf of bread in your life!

I have a lot of people tell me that they

will try the recipes on my blog, but they

never turn out as good as I make them

sound. Hmmm...well I think one of the 

first things you should do is to stop 

substituting ingredients in recipes.

Yes, I know you do that--I've seen you.

Second, follow the directions. I know this

sounds obvious, but I can't tell you how

many people say that they did everything

the recipe said except _ _ _ _ _....

That works O.K. most of the time with

regular cooking, but once you step into

the realm of baking you kind of have to

become like a chemist with OCD.

Personally, I think ingredients are way too

expensive nowadays to be experimenting

with recipes. To me, if you are not following

the directions of a proven and time tested

recipe, then you are basically experimenting.

And we all know how experiments turn out

sometimes.

O.K., if you're still with me, on to Homemade 

French Bread.

First of all pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, 2 1/2 packages yeast,

2 teaspoons salt. Stir in 2 cups of warm water (110 degrees--

get yourself a thermometer folks) and beat with a wooden

spoon until well blended. Stir in 3 1/2 cups more flour

until well combined. If you live in a very dry and arid

area you may end up using less flour than this.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead

in enough extra flour to make a stiff dough. The picture above 

shows the ragged dough ready to be kneaded. Knead about 

8-10 minutes with an up and over motion, pressing down with

the heel of your hand and turning the dough up and over onto

itself until it is smooth and elastic. Kneading is not difficult

and it's a great way to get rid of your pent up frustration 

with all the government overspending.

Here is the smooth and elastic dough formed into a nice

ball shape after about 7 minutes of kneading. Compare to 

the picture above to see the difference you are looking for 

in the dough.

Grease or oil a large, clean bowl. Place dough ball in bowl

and turn over to coat the dough on all sides. This keeps it

from sticking as it rises in the bowl. Cover completely

with plastic wrap to hold the heat in and place in a warm

spot to raise. I prefer my oven with the light on and we

keep our house fairly cold so I also turn the oven on for

a couple of minutes to let it heat and then turn it off.

The dough will rise faster if the temperature is right.

You can let it rise in a cooler place, it will just take a

LOT longer. You want to let this dough rise until it

has doubled in size.

These are the bread plans I use for French Bread. I found

one of these at a garage sale, the other was a gift from

my sister. They are available at better kitchen stores.

If you don't have one you can still make French Bread

on a regular cookie sheet, just make sure the sheet

is greased and sprinkled with cornmeal so the loaves

won't stick. The above pans have tiny holes all along

the bottom so the air circulates and the loaves get

crispy along the bottom. Plus the round shape

makes it easy-peasy to get a nice looking loaf.

Here is my dough, doubled in size. This took about an hour

in my warmed oven with the light on. Take the plastic

off and "punch" the dough down. Basically this means to

stick your fist in and deflate the dough so you can shape

it and let it rise again.

Divide the dough into 2 pieces (or 3 if you are making

the smaller and skinnier baguettes that fit in the 3 way

pan that I showed above) and place on a lightly floured

surface. Cover with a clean cotton towel. Set your timer

for 10 minutes to let the dough rest. Yes, you need to set 

the timer. There is no way humanly possible to remember

something this mundane once you get busy doing other 

stuff around the house. This rest time relaxes the gluten 

so it will be much easier to roll out into a rectangle. You 

can skip this step, but I'm telling you it's worth the 10 

minute wait so you don't have to wrestle with the dough.

When the 10 minutes was up I easily rolled the dough

into a rectangle with my rolling pin. I make it as long

as my pan and wide enough to make it look like a nice

rectangle. If you have ever made cinnamon rolls, this

is basically the same thing. Starting at a long side, roll

it up tightly, making sure to keep it even so you end

up with nice, even rolls. You can taper the ends too

to make it look more authentic, but I don't because

I don't like the ends to dry out from cooking faster

because they are smaller. But that's just me.

Pinch the seam on itself so it doesn't unravel while baking.

If you are really worried about it you can also seal it with

a bit of warm water brushed along the seam.

Here are the rolled and shaped loaves resting

in the pan. Now cover these with the cotton

towel and let rise again in the warm oven with

the light on until they are almost doubled in

size. This usually takes about 35-40 minutes,

depending on how warm the area is they are

rising in of course.

Once the loaves have doubled in size I brush them with a 

mixture of 1 egg white and 1 teas. of water whisked together. 

This is what gives the nice shiny brown finish on French Bread. 

It is optional and you can leave it off if you prefer more of a flat 

finish on your loaves.

An important step is to slash the tops of the loaves about

1/4 inch deep. This allows the gasses to release when the

bread is cooking, plus I think it looks really cool. You

want to use the sharpest knife you have for this because

if you use anything less than ultra sharp you will just

make a big gummy mark in your pretty loaf and then

you'll be mad at me because your bread doesn't look

like the ones in my pictures.

Here is another thing I do that is optional...I place a

shallow casserole dish with some water in it to heat up

in the oven. This creates steam (so BE CAREFUL when

opening the oven door!) while the bread is cooking that 

makes the crust of the bread crispy and bubbly. You know, 

the kind that crackles all over when you take a bite? Yummy. 

Again, this is optional and your bread will have smooth 

crusts if you choose not to place the water in the oven.

You can also just reach in once in awhile and use a spray

bottle to spray water on the sides of the oven to make

the steam.

Slide the pans into your pre-heated oven and set

the timer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, rotate

your pans so the back is facing the front to even out

the cooking and brush the loaves again with the

egg wash.

Edited to add: after rotating the pans the 

bread needs to cook another 15-20 minutes!

Here is the finished product! The crust is crisp and crunchy,

the inside is soft with a slightly chewy center. In this house

these 2 loaves will be gone before you can say Bob's Your Uncle.

Good luck and please send me a picture if you try it and

love the results. If you try it and substitute something or

don't follow the instructions you don't need to send me 

any pictures--I'll just use my imagination.  :-P