Foodie Blogroll

Thursday, March 24, 2011

French Bread (bread machine)

Okay you know how I feel about baking, it's a lot of trial and error, and sometimes things turn out right. Since it was spring break and we had a week to play around with food, and try new things. I asked Maranda what cuisine I should try next. She chose French, and wanted French bread. I also will post another later on that is a little more French than just French bread. Of course I made the dough in the bread machine.

4 cups flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/3 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
2 teaspoons yeast
Add ingredients the order the bread machine instructs you to do. Mine has you add the liquids first and end up with the yeast in a little well made in the flour. Set the bread machine in dough cycle. Remove the dough on a floured surface and form into two loaves. (I made one loaf, so it is bigger than baguettes would be) Let rise for 40 minutes in a warm place. On your stoneware or baking pan toss down some corn meal and carefully place the loaves on pan. Brush with egg wash (1 egg and 1 tablespoon water) slice down the center for baguette or several slits diagonally across for a loaf. Bake at 375F 30-35 minutes.

Guess what? It turned out! Wahoo! It was like what they call a crusty bread, the outside was nice and crisp and crusty and soft and tender inside. It was a nice size for sandwiches and to toast it you had to turn it around halfway through.

It worked great for us! I made this again since and formed two loaves instead of one. Next I'll form longer thinner baguette style, this is great. I let the loaves rise right on the the stoneware bar pan and then popped it right in the oven so I didn't have to transfer it after it had the last raise. Make some in time for the weekend!


21 comments:

  1. Bravo, Lyndz! The bread looks awesome delicious. How wonderful it is to see you bake some bread finally. ha! This should be great for sandwiches. Hope you're going to have a great weekend.
    ((hugs)) Kristy

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  2. Fresh homemade bread is so good, a slice for breakfast would be great.

    -Brenda

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  3. Thanks Kristy, I knew you'd be proud of me, haha! Baby steps...I might be able to tackle more pretty soon. It did taste good in sandwiches, her lunch all week. :D

    Brenda, thanks, I was lucky it turned out (not the best baker here).

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  4. How I miss my kitchen; love to make bread and will try this one when I get back home; thanks so much.
    Rita

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  5. Wat a fantastic recipe...absolutely stunning clicks Lyndsey..:)
    Tasty Appetite

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  6. This reminds me of my failed attempt earlier this week! Yours looks so good!

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  7. That's gorgeous! Your crust is perfect!

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  8. Nothing beats homemade bread. I had leeks-cleriac soup and a bread roll at a cafe today. I love the soup but...my gosh...the bread roll was horrible. It was so hard. Could be many, many days old bread. It can kill! I better make my own. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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  9. That's an awesome loaf of bread with perfect crust and crumb!

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  10. That is beautiful! Long baguettes will be awesome too. I have yet to really attempt bread. I'm kind of impatient waiting for things to rise and then waiting some more.

    Your bread is beautiful & inspiring. Thanks for sharing it with us!

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  11. YUM! I'd want to eat the entire freshly made loaf. What a golden and lovely foundation for so many delicious sammies, French toast....

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  12. This looks wonderful Lyndsey! Hope you are having a nice weekend. Our weather has been beyond gorgeous lately hasn't it?!

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  13. I use my bread machine two to three times a week but have never made a french loaf. Yours came out beautifully! This would be so good with a bowl of soup.

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  14. Rita, I would miss my kitchen too, even though it's tiny!

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  15. Jat, that is so nice of you to say.

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  16. pigpigscorner - Ha! You should see some of my failed breads. Maybe I'll post them...pretty scary.

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  17. Reeni- thanks! I only showed the good ones Haha!

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  18. Susan B - that's what is nice aboyt the bread machine, just pop the ingredients and forget about it. The 40 min wait isn't too bad if you have something else to do.

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  19. Jenn - thanks, it did work out nice for sandwiches.

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  20. Martha - you said it, we certainly can't complain.

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  21. Biren, I don't have a stand mixer with a dough hook so my bread machine has been working fine for me. Good to know I'm not the only one that relies on it.

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