Husband Baked! YAY

Husband baked this weekend! (It was too windy to go fishing so he decided to make his world famous French baguettes.)

I wish you could smell the house! Nothing says ‘home’ like the smell of baking bread!

French Baguettes

5-51/2 cups unbleached bread flour

2 teaspoons salt

1 package quick-rise yeast

2 cups lukewarm water

Boiling water, as needed

Cornmeal for pans

1 egg white beaten with pinch of salt for glaze

In the bowl of electric stand mixer, combine 4 cups of the flour, the salt, yeast and water. Stir until blended. Knead with the dough hook until the dough is elastic and pulls cleanly from the bowl sides, about 10 minutes, adding flour as needed. The dough will be very soft. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 1 minute. Form into a ball and place in a clean bowl. Dust lightly with flour, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 45-60 minutes.

Scrape the dough out onto a well-floured work surface. Press flat, knead for a few seconds and return to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, 20-30 minutes.

Line each of 2 double baguette pans (4 molds total), each 18 inches long and 6 inches wide, with a kitchen towel and sprinkle with flour, lightly rubbing it into the fabric. Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface, press flat. Cut into 4 equal pieces, knead into balls and let rest for 5 minutes. Press each ball flat and then fold into thirds. Roll each into a rope 16 inches long with tapered ends. Place in the towel-lined pans. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise until doubled, about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450°

Place a shallow pan of boiling water on the floor of the pre-heated oven. Pull the pans out from under the towels. Grease the pans and sprinkle with cornmeal. One at a time, flip the loaves into the pans, underside up. Brush with glaze. Using a sharp knife, make three ¼ inch long deep diagonal slashes on each loaf. Bake until brown and crusty, 20-25 minutes. 

Transfer the loaves to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature (if you can wait that long, LOL!)

Makes four ½ lb. baguettes

Recipe from: Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library BREADS