French Bread, you can do it!

Homemade French Bread.  Three years ago this was so far off my radar that I probably had forgotten that bread could be made at home period.  If I wanted bread I'd head to the grocery store....our local Hannaford chain has decent bread in their bakery.  Good enough, and it IS good enough...the thing is though, is that it's not that hard to make your own bread IF you have the time.  Today is Thursday, family dinner night.  We have all been sick around here and are finally feeling better so we are able to go...but just in case I offered to bring bread.  My mom gave me this great magazine called Homemade Bread.  She got it Tractor Supply Co. of all places.  It's my go to bread book.

With in these wonderful carb-loving pages I found a pretty easy recipe for French Bread {pg 18}.  It made up like my other bread recipes...once you get a few basics down you can totally do this.

 

French Bread





2 Cups warm water ( 105-115F)
2 packages yeast (4 1/2 t)
1 1/2 t salt
1 T sugar*
5 1/2 C- 6C all purpose flour
1 egg white, lightly beaten (for tops of loaves)

Combine 1/2 Cup of warm water with yeast and set aside for about ten minutes or until yeast is foamy.

In a large bowl (I use my kitchen aid stand mixer) combine the reamining warm water, (1 1/2C) salt and sugar.  add the yeast mixture and stir until combined. 
Add 2 cups of the flour, and mix well.  continue to beat the mixture for one or two minutes, you are looking for a smooth and creamy mixture.  Add additional flour in 1/2 cup incremments, stirring well after each addition, until the dough becomes stiff and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl

If you like kneading your dough by hand, turn the dough onto a generously floured work surface.  I switched to my dough hook attachment and kneaded it in the mixer for about 4 minutes.  Add flour in Tablespoon increments.

Lightly grease a large bowl with a small amount of oil. place the dough in the bowl and turn the dough over to coat the surface.  Cover the bowl with a clean cotton towel or plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour.  It should double in size.

Divide the dough in half.  To make the standard "torpedo shape" loaf that french bread usually comes in, press the dough into a rectangle.  Make the rectangles as long as you would like your loaves to be, then tightly roll up each rectangle from the long edge and pinch the seam to seal.

Place your loaves seam side down on a baking sheet lightly dusted with cornmeal (I used my non-stick mat) you want your loaves about 3 inches apart or they will "grow together' Set aside to let rise until doubled,  about 30  minutes.  Preheat oven to 375 F while loves rise.

Just before baking brush tops and sides of loaves with the beaten egg white.  Using a sharp serrated knife, make diagonal slashes 1/4- 1/2 inch deep across the top of each loaf.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the laoves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Allow the loaves to cool or serve warm.  Enjoy!

*I don't care for the sugar in my bread so I simply feed the yeast with a pinch of it when Im proofing it (letting it get foamy) and then omit it in the recipe.  Feel free to do what works best for you.

 

 

**If all goes well, tomorrow I'll post pictures and the recipe for Parmesan garlic butter spread to make your own garlic bread! (fingers crossed)