Baguettes

I have gotten out of practice of making my own bread lately. But I had a craving for some baguettes to put some fresh summer tomatoes on, and I decided to make my own. I topped it with tomato bruschetta!
I almost always make my bread according to the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day method, which is very easy.

Baguette (Adopted from recipe by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day)
Makes enough dough for 4 1-lb loaves/baguettes.


In a counter-top mixer or large bowl, add three cups slightly warm water, 1 1/2 tablespoons yeast, and 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt.
Add 6 1/2 cups all purpose flour. Then use your dough hook attachment to mix all the ingredients. You don't have to let it run long at all, just until all the four is mixed in there.

Dump it in a large container with a lid (It is not supposed to be air tight, and mine is so I only latch two sides of the lid on.)
Let it sit at room temperature for about 2 hours, until it looks like this.

Then put the lid on and stick it in the fridge for several hours, or overnight is best. (Yes, I still have a sticker on there that came with the container. hehe)

Then to make the baguettes I use a baguette pan. It is curved to hold the shape of the bread, and has lots of tiny holes to let the air flow. (It is from Williams Sonoma)

The next day I cut off 2 1lb chunks of bread. Shaped the bread, pulling four corners around to make a ball. Then elongate the ball, placed it on a dusted dish towel in the baguette tray, covered it with the ends of the towel and let it rise for 20 minutes.

Then I sprayed the tray with non stick cooking spray, and turned the oven onto 450 degrees F. Put the bread back in the tray, and put it in the oven with a broiler pan with one cup of water. (The steam from the water helps with a crisp crust.) Let it bake for about 25 minutes, until it was brown and firm to the touch.

I feel French eating this.
The crust wasn't as crisp as I would like, so I am going to work on that for next time. But it was still very good, and very satisfying to make my own bread again!