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This recipe came my way via Mark Bittman's book How to Cook Everything. It's as simple as bread making
can be, and makes a very rustic baguette with a hard crust and soft crumb.
3 1/2 cups of all-purpose or bread flour (or a mix of the two)
1 1/2 cups of water
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. instant yeast, or 1 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
Mix together 2 cups of flour, salt, water, and yeast. When mixed to a soupy consistency, slowly add the other 1
1/2 cups of flour. When mixed, take from bowl and knead on countertop. Oil a bowl, at least twice the size of the
dough ball, place the ball in the bottom, and cover with plastic. Let rise for 3 hours.
Take dough out of bowl and cut into how ever many portions you want. I usually cut into thirds or in half. Put
dough balls on top of a towel, and cover with another towel. Allow to rise for 1/2 hour.
Take each dough ball and pound into roughly a flat, rectangular shape on countertop. Fold 1/2 toward the middle,
fold other half into the middle, then pinch the seams together. Roll out flattened, folded dough like a clay "snake."
Put back on towel, cover with another towel, and allow to rise again for 1-2 hours.
Preheat oven to 450 F for 1/2 hour. Make a series of diagonal slashes across each baguette with a sharp knife or
razor blade. I bake the baguettes on top of an old kiln shelf I keep in the oven. Pizza stones or large, unglazed
clay tiles work well too. If you don't have those, place the baguettes on a large baking sheet, and slide into
the oven. Spray water inside for steam. I use an old plant mister. Spray again 5 minutes later. Although the original
recipe suggests baking for 25-35 minutes, in my oven with the kiln shelf, it only takes 15-18 minutes to reach
an internal temperature of 210 F, which is the desired temperature. When thumped on the bottom, the bread should
sound hollow. The crust should be a rustic, toasty brown, and should crackle when squeezed.
Although this bread is ok eaten the next day, after being refrigerated over night, it is much better warm from
the oven. In fact, it is so much better fresh from the oven that I recommend only baking what you will be able
to eat at one sitting, unless you want to use it for toast the next morning, especially French toast. You can refrigerate
unused dough balls until the next day, allowing them to reach room temperature prior to making into baguette shapes.
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