Amazing French Baguettes

THESE DIRECTIONS SEEM LONG, BUT IT IS MOSTLY DUE TO DESCRIBING TECHNIQUE. DON'T BE DISCOURAGED TO TRY! The hands-on time involved is only about 20-25 minutes.

Make the poolish (dough starter) the night before so it can sit overnight. Combine all of the poolish ingredients except the water in the bowl of the food processor with metal blade and pulse a couple of times to mix. Add water while the processor is running and stop it after a dough ball has formed and you don't see any dry ingredients left on the bottom of the bowl. Open the lid, and distribute dough a bit evenly around/over the blade. Put the cover back on and let it sit overnight.

In the morning (or 6-10 hours later), pulse the poolish a couple of times to get the blade going. Add all of the remaining ingredients (except the water) and pulse a bit until mixed. Then, with the machine running, add the water and let it run until a nice dough ball has formed, about 30-45 seconds.

Dump the dough into a bowl sprayed with olive oil or butter, form into a kind of flat ball, then flip it so that the dough on top has picked up the oil on the bottom of the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm place for 30 minutes.

After the dough has rested for 30 minutes, you will be doing a series of three stretch and folds with the dough (takes about 30 seconds each time). With the dough still in the bowl, lightly dampen your hands (prevents sticking) and pull on one side of the dough and stretch it up and then fold it down over the top of the dough ball. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and do the same again. Continue until you've done all four sides. Flip so the smooth side is up,cover the dough again, place in warm area 30 minutes and then repeat this two more times. This is a two-hour process from when the dough is mixed to when it is ready to be shaped: four 30-minute resting periods with three stretch-and-folds in between.

During the final resting period, prep your oven, pans and shaping area. Position one oven rack in the very bottom position in the oven and another rack in the middle position. Place a cast iron skillet or another heatproof skillet on the bottom rack. (This will be used to add steam to the baking process.) On the middle rack, place a baking stone or cookie sheet turned upside down to promote even baking. Prepare an area for shaping your dough (a silicone cookie sheet liner works perfectly) and pull out the pan you want to use for baking (either a cookie sheet with parchment paper or baguette pan, shown below). On a short length of baking paper, sprinkle some corn meal to dip the bottom of the bread in after shaping. Right before you start shaping your dough, turn on the oven to 475 degrees. (The oven should heat up for about an hour before you put the bread in the oven.)

To pre-shape the dough, cut (don't tear) your dough ball into either two or three equal parts (eyeball it). On a very lightly floured surface, press the first piece of dough out into a rectangle about 8x10 for two loaves, 5x7 for three loaves. Gently stretch the short ends out. Fold each short end into the center and press down with your fingertips to seal. Fold each long end into the center and pinch with your fingertips to seal, creating a seam in the dough. Set aside, seam side down, and repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for about 10 minutes.

To shape into baguettes, with the seam side up, press (I use a wooden roller) to gently form dough into a thin rectangle. Starting at the top left edge, begin folding down the dough about 1/2 inch at a time, sealing it with your fingertips, working your way across the top. Repeat this process, continuing to fold down on the dough and sealing to create a tight log. Once you have a thin, tight log, turn it seam side down, and roll the dough with both hands into a long, thin rope shape (about 18" long for 2 loaves, 14" long for 3 loaves). Try to keep the dough as even as possible so you don't have a Lumpy Loaf (a good name for a rock band, right?). Dip seam side of the shaped baguette into the corn meal and then place on your baguette pan or on a piece of baking paper. Repeat with remaining pieces. Cover with damp cloth (dish towel will work) and let the loaves rest for 45-60 minutes until they are about doubled in size.

After resting the loaves, coat the crust with the egg wash. Then score the baguettes 3-4 times with a very sharp knife (about 1/4 inch deep). The cut should be a long lengthwise diagonal, not a short crosswise diagonal.

Reduce the oven temp to 450 degrees, place the baguettes on the top rack and pour the ice cubes into the skillet on the bottom rack. Quickly shut the oven to trap the steam. After 5 minutes, mist the inside walls of your oven with water (be sure to avoid the light bulb). After 10 minutes, mist again. Continue to bake until the baguettes are golden brown and the bread sounds hollow when tapped.

Let cool a bit before slicing, if you can wait, that is. 😉