A French Loaf

This is kind of a retroactive post, just to get things going, about a fun project we did over winter break in Minnesota. 

The following is a recipe for a French loaf that Greg's, ironically, Dutch neighbor Andrine gave us. It's fabulous but has a lot of steps. Once you get the hang of the timing, it's really easy. It's possible to prepare it the night before you want to eat it and then just do the rest of the steps early in the morning. 

You need a 6- to 8-quart Dutch oven for this bread. It's worth it though.

(makes 1 1/2 pound loaf)

3 cups bread flour plus more for dusting

1/4 teaspoon yeast

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 5/8 cup water

Step 1:

Mix dough and let rise--in a large bowl, combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water. Stir until blended; dough will be sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest for 12-18 hours (we found 18 hours worked best) at a warm room temperature or until dough surface is dotted with bubbles. 

Step 2:

Folding dough--lightly flour work surface. Place dough on surface. Sprinkle with a little more flour. Fold dough over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rest for 15 minutes. 

Step 3: 

Shaping dough--Using just enough flour to keep your dough from sticking to the work surface or your fingers, gently and quickly shape the dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth!) with flour. Put dough, seam side down, on the towel. Dust with more flour. Cover with another cotton towel. 

Let rise for 2 hours or until dough is more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with your finger. 

Step 4:

Preparing the oven/pot--About 30 minutes before your dough is ready, heat the oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. 

Step 5:

Cooking dough--When the dough and oven are ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven. Slide your hand under the towel. Turn the dough over into the pot, seam side UP. (It might look like a mess at this point but that's OK. Shake the pot a bit so it settles in. It will straighten out as it bakes). Cover with the lid. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid. Bake for 15 to 30 minutes more until loaf is browned. Cool on a rack and enjoy its awesomness. 

This bread is great with just some cheese, some peanut butter or jam. Nothing fancy. 

Below is our first attempt--kind of dense. Didn't let it rise enough. 

This one was the winner. Really crusty and airy. 

This is what it looked like on the inside.