Julia Child’s Plain French Bread

French bread is a good match for pasta, soups, or just about anything. I often buy French Bread at the store, but I came across this delicious Julia Child French Bread Recipe and just had to give it a try. This is a great recipe to expand your culinary experience if you’ve never made home-made bread. Go ahead and treat yourself, you deserve it!

Ingredients:

• 3 and a half cups of flour
• 1 and a half cups of water
• A pack of dry yeast (instant will do)
• 2 and a half teaspoons of salt
• 1 tablespoon of water

Cooking Instructions:

1. Get your mixer, and pour in warm water. Dry it.
2. Pour in the flour and salt.
3. Start your mixer in medium speed. You might need to scrape the mixture from the sides, to keep everything in the center. Make sure you have your spatula beside you.
4.  In a separate bowl, get your 1 and a half cups of water, and pour in your yeast. Mix it well, until the yeast is fully activated.
5. Pour in the yeast mixture into the mixer.
6. After adding the yeast, the dough should already be forming a ball, and none of the mixture is sticking on the sides of the mixing bowl.
7. Start adding your flour gradually. Do it in small portions.
8. Take out the dough from the mixer, and allow it to rest for a couple of minutes.
9. Start kneading your dough. You can do this by hand, but I prefer to use a mixer for convenience. If you are going to use a mixer, make sure that your hook is clean and dry again, before using.
10. Check the consistency of your dough. I do this by pressing my finger on the dough. If the dough springs back, then this tells me that I do not need to knead anymore.
11. Get a bowl and pour in warm water again. Dry it, and make sure to grease it with butter or oil, to prevent the dough from sticking. I use Pam, by the way.
12. Place your kneaded dough inside the bowl, and cover it with a cling wrap. Let it rest for at least 2 to three hours.
13. Get your dough and make a square form. Fold one end to the other, until it forms a triangle. Do this step several times on every side.
14. Turn your dough into a circular form, and slightly flatten it.
15. Put the dough inside a bowl again, and cover with cling wrap. Let it sit there for about an hour, or until it already tripled its size.
16. Get a parchment paper and a flat wooden tray. Place your dough on top of the tray with parchment, and cover the dough with a bowl, and let it rise again. It should triple the size once more.
17. Preheat oven at 450 degrees for 30 minutes.
18. Place a pan with water and a baking stone in the oven
19. Make a few deep slits on top of your dough, and brush it with water
20. Place your dough on top of the parchment paper, and place it on top of the baking stone inside the preheated oven. Start baking.
21. Refill the warm water in your pan after six minutes, and make sure to brush your dough with water at least every 3 minutes (do this 3X – 3^rd min, 6^th, and 9th). After 6 minutes of baking, remove the parchment, and allow the bread to bake on top of the baking stone directly.
22. Bake for at least 25 minutes, or until you see a golden brown color on top.

Please feel free to leave your comment and let everyone else know how wonderful your Home-Made-French-Bread turns out!