It's 67 degrees inside our house and I'm freezing! Oh no...our utility bills will surely be high as consumption due to heater use will be rampant as winter kicks in. This afternoon, I have not turned the heater on but let's see if the fireplace in the main hall will help heat up the ground floor....
Nobody is hungry ...so we are just having french bread, cheese and hot chocolate (wine for me) for dinner! This is my first attempt to this crusty bread we love....I don't have a bread machine so I used the traditional way of rolling and punching the dough with my bare hands - -Ouch!
INGREDIENTS:
6 cups all-purpose flour
5 tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp salt
2 cups warm water
1 tbsp cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tbsp water
HERE'S HOW:
- Whisk yeast with water and salt
- Stir in flour, one cup at a time. Mix until fully blended
- Knead for about 10 minutes. Form into a ball.
- Place dough in a greased bowl and let rise for 30-45 minutes
- After the size is doubled, punch dough and let it rest for 10 minutes
- Divide into 4 and form into 4 oblong like loaves
- Grease a baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal
- Place loaves on the baking sheets and brush with egg whites mixed with water
- Cover with a cloth. Let rise until nearly doubled, 35 to 40 minutes
- Using a knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts about 1/4 inch deep across top of each loaf.
- Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with egg white
- Bake for another 15 minutes
