French Bread

I decided recently that I would learn how to make French Bread. This can be a lift-long learning challenge and I knew that from the get-go. What I didn't know is that after only 4 batches I've really started to enjoy the process and the results.

It started with a little online research and reading from a few books on bread. Since I didn't want to invest in anything here is my recipe and directions with ingredient and tools in your home.

French Bread

~Print Recipe~

Dough:
1 ½ Tb. Dry yeast
1 Tb. Sugar
2 c. warm water (105-115 degrees F)
5-6 c. unbleached flour
1 Tb salt or more (I like more, up to 2 Tb. but usually 1 1/2 Tb.)
Cornmeal for sprinkling (or parchment paper, not wax paper)

Egg Wash:
1 egg white
splash of water
1 t. salt


1. Create a sponge or pre-ferment with 1 c. water, 1 c. flour, yeast, and sugar. Combine well and let rest for 30 minutes.
2. In a heavy duty mixer combine 4 c. flour, salt and sponge. Using a dough hook, mix and kneed for about 5 min. Adjust water and flour to create soft, silky, and resilient dough.
3. Turn onto lightly floured surface and kneed a few more times to create a nice ball. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise for about 2 hours.
4. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and kneed a few more times (about 10-20 turns). Divide into portions for separate loaves. Let rest for a few minutes.
5. Shape into loaves. And place on a pan that was dusted with corn meal.
6. Score top, brush with Egg Wash.
7. Bake for 20-40 minutes at 400. Place a small heat proof baking dish with at least 1 inch of water in the oven on the rack below the bread.

Here is a helpful link: The Fresh Loaf

Good visual and pictures here: Artisan Bread Making

Rolling Pie Crusts

So this may not be the most interesting 'recipe', but I feel like I made a breakthrough last night while rolling crusts for pasties.  Making crusts from scratch is challenging for most of us, and for me personally, the hardest part is rolling it out.  Luckily my new food processor makes the mixing of a crust fairly easy.

Here's my tip on rolling crusts:

Start with a clean surface, or not.  Lay down a sheet of parchment paper large enough to work on your dough.  Sprinkle the paper with a generous amount of flour.  Roll your dough in a ball and set it in the middle of the paper, then press down a bit to flatten.

Tear off another piece of parchment paper about the same size as the first, and sprinkle it with flour.  Lay the paper (flour side down) on top of the ball of dough.  You now have a parchment paper dough sandwich.  Find a rolling pin or round bottle (I used a wine bottle - a recommendation from Davey).  Roll out the dough with the pin/bottle on top of the paper.  It should be fairly quick getting it thin, even and round.  Once it is the proper size, pull up the parchment paper, and lift up the rolled out dough.  If it sticks anywhere, just use a spoon or spatula to edge it off. 

This technique eliminated my frustrations with trying to roll out dough and having it stick to everything.  It also was super easy to roll out a thin circle.  I just couldn't let those darn pie crusts get the best of me.  I used Betty Crocker's pie crust mix, I highly recommend it (just add water!).