Believe it or not I am finally going to post the french bread recipe my mom gave me. The one that the dough can be in the fridge for up to 4 days! As I sit with my box of kleenex and glass of ice cold ginger kombucha tea. It's another gorgeous fall day out and I'm sitting in my aot. I want to be on a long bike ride! But this cold must go away in two days! I can hardly wait to be on my way to Chicago! The bride called me screeming with excitement today! I love her, seriously! Sisters at heart!
DO NOT freek out that it's long. It's only because there are different mixing meathods! In case you don't have a mixer or what I like to use, a cuisinart. Don't be a kitchen sissy! OK:) Bread is so easy especially this recipe!
The Recipe!
5 1/3 C unbleached bread flour
2 t. salt or 1 T. coarse kosher salt
2 1/4 t. instant yeast
2 C. lukewarm water
Combine all of the ingrediants in a mixing bowl. If using a mixer, use the paddle attachment and mix on the lowest speed for 1 min. If mixing by hand, use a large spoon and stir for 1 min, until well blended and smooth. If the spoon gets too doughy, dip it in a bowl of warm water. The dough should form a coarse shaggy ball. Let it rest, uncovered, for 5 min.
Switch to the dough hook and mix on med-low speed for 2 min. or knead by hand for about 2 min, adjusting with flour or water as needed. The dough should be smooth, supple, and tacky but not sticky.
Whichever mixing method you use, knead the dough by hand on a lightly floured work surface for about 1 min more, then transfer it to a clean, lightly oiled bowl. cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then immediately refrigerate overnight or for up to 4 days. If the dough feels too wet and sticky, do not add more flour; instead, stretch and fold it one or more times at 10 min intervals before putting it into the refrigerator. If you plan to bake the dough in batches over different days, you can pertion the dough and place it into two or more oiled bowls at this point.
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| Before I put it into the fridge. |
Baking!
Remove the dough from the refrigerator a few hours before baking. The dough needs to be room temperature before you can form your loaves. After it becomes room temperature transfer it to a lightly floured work surface, try not to degass it. I devide the dough in half and make two free standing loaves. You can shape it into whatever type of bread style you desire.
After you form your dough mist the top of the loaves with spray oil, loosely cover with plastic wrap, and proof at room temperature until it increases to 1 1/2 times its original size. This can take a couple hours.
Preheat the oven to 550, and prepare the oven for hearth baking. If you are baking the bread on a stone preheat that as well. If not you can use a baking sheat for baking the bread.
Remove the plastic wrap, transfer dough onto a floured peel. I free hand it and kind of toss the dough onto the stone.
Just prior to baking, score the dough 1/2in deep with a serrated knife or razor. I forgot this the first time around! Transfer the dough to the oven, pour 1 C. of hot water into the steam pan, (The steam pan is a baking sheat that you put on the bottom wrack of your oven i.e. "hearth baking") then lower the oven temperature to 450 degrees.
Bake for 12min. then rotate the pan and bake for another 15 to 25 min. until the crust is a rich golden brown, the loaves sound hollow when thumped, and the internal temperature is about 200 degrees F in the center. for a crisper crust, turn off the oven and leave the bread in for another 5 min. before removing.
Cool on wire wracks before cutting!
This bread is so so good and easy! I really hope you try it!
Currently I am experimenting with whole wheat bread flour. My last batch was 100% whole wheat and it was too heavy. Next time I am going to do half white and half wheat and see how that turns out!
~ Rachel
