Fresh From The Oven

With our HarvestFest happening this Thursday I decided to tackle #4 on my list. There are so many talented cooks contributing to this year’s Thanksgiving feast I needed a recipe that would pass muster.

I turned to my mom for recipes since each visit to her house isn’t complete unless some kind of tasty fresh-from-the-oven baked good is packaged up and handed to me upon departure. She served this bread at her bed & breakfast so I had no doubt it would be delicious. And since I’ve never actually baked bread from scratch, she guaranteed the recipe was foolproof. She was right.

I did a trial run last night and it turned out crusty on the outside, soft and chewy inside. And oozed of yummy, yummy comfort food goodness.

French Baguette Recipe
Ingredients:
5 1⁄2 to 6 1⁄2 cups flour
2 pkgs. dry yeast
1 T. sugar
1 T. salt
2 T. soft butter
2 1⁄4 cups hot tap water
olive oil

Directions
1. Combine 2 cups flour, yeast, sugar, salt
2. Add butter
3. Add water. Beat until yeast dissolves
4. Add 1 cup flour
5. Stir in additional flour

Roll to make a ball on floured surface.
Place in slightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in oven over a pan of hot water for 20 minutes. Punch, knead, and divide in half and shape into two long loaves. Place on greased baking sheet. Brush with oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 2-24 hours. Let stand while preheating oven. If desired, brush tops with mixture of cold water & egg white.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.