Baguettes

February 25, 2009

MAKES 8 (1/2-POUND) LOAVES (4 SERVINGS PER LOAF)

DOUGH:

3 cups lukewarm water (100 degrees)

2 envelopes yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)

4 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (or to taste)

6 1/2 to 7 cups unbleached all-purpose white flour, measured using scoop-and-sweep method (2 pounds)

FOR BAKING:

Flour for dusting

1 cup hot water

Preparing the dough: Place the water into a 5- to 6-quart container with a lid. Stir in the yeast and salt.

Add 6 1/2 cups flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon until it's well mixed, with no dry patches. The dough will be rough-looking and moist but will mound up slightly in the container. If it flattens out quickly, add a little more flour. Cover loosely, and let the dough rise at room temperature for at least 2 hours.

Form loaves at once or, for easier handling and better flavor, refrigerate the dough, loosely covered, for at least three hours. This dough may be refrigerated, loosely covered, up to two weeks.

Baking: When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour over the dough, and cut off a grapefruit-sized piece (1/4 of the dough) with a serrated knife.

Return the remaining dough to the fridge for another day. Cut the piece of dough in half. Working quickly, with floured hands, shape each piece into a ball by stretching the top around to the bottom. On a floured surface, pull the ball into a flat oval, fold into thirds, like a letter, and pinch the seam closed. Stretch and roll into a 2-inch-thick cylinder with tapered ends.

Heavily dust a rimless cookie sheet or pizza peel with flour. Place the loaves on the peel and let rest, uncovered, for about 20 minutes, while you preheat the oven.

Place a pizza or baking stone on the middle rack of the oven and a shallow pan, such as a broiler pan, on another rack. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Just before baking, brush the loaves with water and, using a serrated knife, slice diagonal slashes along the length of each loaf.

Slide the loaves onto the baking stone. Pour 1 cup hot tap water into the broiler pan and quickly close the oven door. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until deeply browned. Let cool completely on a rack before slicing.

Note: When our dough was too floppy, we got excellent results with a perforated baguette pan.

Adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery that Revolutionizes Home Baking by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois, and www.artisanbreadinfive.com.

Nutrition facts per serving: 94 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 20 g carbohydrates, 3 g protein, 272 mg sodium, 1 g fiber