Baguette
Wow. Just got done tasting these for the first time. I did the baking a bit different as I had a pork loin in the oven at the same time. The salt was a bit much, I had a fairly fine sea salt, so that was probably the difference. I’d probably mix the 1 1/4 C water and the flour and let it autolyze while the yeast hydrates. An overnight first rise would add some nice flavor too.
3 1/2 cups of bread flour
1 1/4 cups water (room temp)
1/4 cup warmer water (not too hot; temp should be about what you use for baby formula…)
1 tsp. yeast (I use Fleischmann’s Active Dry)
2 tsp. kosher salt, use less if you’re using table salt
1/2 tsp sugar
dissolve the yeast and sugar in the 1/4 cup warm water, let sit for 15 minutes. combine the flour and salt in the food processor, process for a few seconds to mix. After yeast has proofed for 15 minutes, combine it with the water, and add to the flour slowly with the machine running. After a minute, the mixture will form a fairly sticky ball of dough.
Dump this into a largish bowl, cover tightly and let rise for 2-3 hours at room temp, or overnight in the fridge. (if you refrigerate, bring back to rooom temo to continue.)
Turn the ball of dough out onto a lightly floured surface, knead it to deflate the bubbles and shape it into 2 baguettes or 1 boule (round loaf). Place on a baking sheet (sprinkling the sheet with cornmeal will help the bread to not stick), dust with flour, cover with a clean dish towel, and let rise another hour. (preheat the oven to 450 F. )
When you’re ready to bake, slash the tops of the loaves with a sharp knife , spritz them with water and put in the oven. Spray them lightly every few minutes in the first 15 minutes of baking (this makes a crisper crust.) Baking time should be about 30 minutes; loaves should be a deep golden brown and sound hollow when you thump on the bottom.