Wednesday, February 3, 2010

French Bread

I have been wanting to make Julia Child's Soupe A L'oignon, or french onion soup, for some time now, but really wanted to try my hand at making french bread loaves when making it. I bought this magazine, Taste of the South, over the weekend and found a recipe for the french loaves. This was my first time buying this magazine, and I am glad that I did. I may have to subscribe, just to help feed my addiction!
The bread was not that hard to make. I did learn that I need to split my dough more evenly..I ended up with a small loaf and a larger loaf,and not to use so much flour when forming into the loaf. But, other than that...it was a cinch to put together and was delicious! I ate 3 warm slices with a little butter before I even got to the soup. This was also a great time to teach Abby how to knead. I think she enjoyed it as much as I do.


Oh, and about the soup? Fantastic! Jamey gave me Mastering the Art of French Cooking as a Christmas gift. This is the first and only thing so far that I have made from it. It really made me want to dive into the book and make almost all of it. I have to say though, I draw the line at brains...yes, it tells you how to cook and clean them. Oh, and don't get me started on the aspic either..just can't bring myself to it. But, for the most part, it is stuff that I would make.

French Bread

From: Taste of the South

2 cups warm water

1 Tbsp sugar

1 (.25 oz) package active-rise yeast

3 Tbsp vegetable oil, divided

1 Tbsp salt

5 1/2-6 cups bread flour, divided

1/4 cup cornmeal

In a medium bowl, combine warm water, sugar and yeast. Let stand until foamy, approximately 10 minutes.

In the bowl of a large stand mixer, combine yeast mixture, 1 Tbsp oil, salt and 3 cups flour. Using the dough hook attachment, beat for 2-3 minutes, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Stir in enough of remaining flour to make s stiff dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth, approximately 1o minutes.

Grease a large bowl with remaining 2 Tbsp oil. Place dough in bowl, turning dough to coat all sides. Cover, and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in size. About 1 1/2 hours.

Punch dough down, and divide in half. Shape dough into 2 (17x3 inch) loaves.

Spray 2 baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with cornmeal. Place each loaf on a prepared baking sheet. Make 4 cuts diagonally across the top of each loaf. Cover, and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake until crispy and golden brown, about 30 minutes.

14 comments:

Heather Baird said...

I think we need to have a bread makin' session sometime. I have a lot to learn, and you are obviously very good at it!

Megan said...

It turned out very nice looking. Makes me want to dive into the kitchen and start playing in the flour. But this weekend it is Valentines cookies. Ok, maybe a little HBin5 action too. I'm kind of missing those good ol' white bread loaves. eat a slice for me.

BTW- I havent been on Twitter because it locked me out. I'm working on it. I swear, I'm in between blogs so I cant post and no twitter too. It's been a rough week1 LOL

tinyskillet said...

This is a really nice post! I absolutly love French Onion Soup, and I am very particular about it! Yours looks fantastic! Love the bread too! I can't wait to see what you make next!

Unknown said...

Looks great! I ADORE Taste of the South--I have every single issue and refer to them ALL the time. Some of my very favorite recipes came from this one. Definitely subscribe! You will not regret it! (and the special issues at Christmas are also AMAZING)

Barbara Bakes said...

How fun to make homemade french bread for your french onion soup. So fun that Abby wants to be in the kitchen with you. It looks delicious!

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

Your French bread looks beautiful. This recipe is a little different than the one I use and am definitely going to try it. The dough in my recipe is very hard to work with.

Megan said...

Yes, Julia sure has some strange recipes in there. I have my limits, too!

The bread looks just perfect - and the soup does as well.

brokeintrovert said...

I love your daughter's blog. I have a 13 year old daughter. She's been too busy with school right now to do much of anything...Well...she found myspace.com and spends a lot of time "chatting" with school friends--I let her because she only has about 15-20 minutes a night to do this...and I am sleepy at this time anyway.

brokeintrovert said...

Thanks for the french bread recipe! I love this blog!

Debbie said...

The bread looks so good and I've never made a yeast bread before. Your directions don't sound difficult at all so maybe I will give this a try...I'll let you know if I do!!!

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

April you won the cookbook!!! I will email you later tonight. Maybe we can get together for lunch or coffee!

brokeintrovert said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I know...what if it were something permanent like flooring or tile or counter tops! My husband said that he's not going to change the paint, though.

The Blonde Duck said...

I must try this bread. It looks delicious!

scrapsalot said...

What fun I have had looking at your blog. Thanks for some great recipes. I'm making recipe cards out of them so I'll always have them on hand. I've just started my own blog. Please stop by. Thanks.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

French Bread

I have been wanting to make Julia Child's Soupe A L'oignon, or french onion soup, for some time now, but really wanted to try my hand at making french bread loaves when making it. I bought this magazine, Taste of the South, over the weekend and found a recipe for the french loaves. This was my first time buying this magazine, and I am glad that I did. I may have to subscribe, just to help feed my addiction!
The bread was not that hard to make. I did learn that I need to split my dough more evenly..I ended up with a small loaf and a larger loaf,and not to use so much flour when forming into the loaf. But, other than that...it was a cinch to put together and was delicious! I ate 3 warm slices with a little butter before I even got to the soup. This was also a great time to teach Abby how to knead. I think she enjoyed it as much as I do.


Oh, and about the soup? Fantastic! Jamey gave me Mastering the Art of French Cooking as a Christmas gift. This is the first and only thing so far that I have made from it. It really made me want to dive into the book and make almost all of it. I have to say though, I draw the line at brains...yes, it tells you how to cook and clean them. Oh, and don't get me started on the aspic either..just can't bring myself to it. But, for the most part, it is stuff that I would make.

French Bread

From: Taste of the South

2 cups warm water

1 Tbsp sugar

1 (.25 oz) package active-rise yeast

3 Tbsp vegetable oil, divided

1 Tbsp salt

5 1/2-6 cups bread flour, divided

1/4 cup cornmeal

In a medium bowl, combine warm water, sugar and yeast. Let stand until foamy, approximately 10 minutes.

In the bowl of a large stand mixer, combine yeast mixture, 1 Tbsp oil, salt and 3 cups flour. Using the dough hook attachment, beat for 2-3 minutes, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Stir in enough of remaining flour to make s stiff dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth, approximately 1o minutes.

Grease a large bowl with remaining 2 Tbsp oil. Place dough in bowl, turning dough to coat all sides. Cover, and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in size. About 1 1/2 hours.

Punch dough down, and divide in half. Shape dough into 2 (17x3 inch) loaves.

Spray 2 baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with cornmeal. Place each loaf on a prepared baking sheet. Make 4 cuts diagonally across the top of each loaf. Cover, and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake until crispy and golden brown, about 30 minutes.

14 comments:

Heather Baird said...

I think we need to have a bread makin' session sometime. I have a lot to learn, and you are obviously very good at it!

Megan said...

It turned out very nice looking. Makes me want to dive into the kitchen and start playing in the flour. But this weekend it is Valentines cookies. Ok, maybe a little HBin5 action too. I'm kind of missing those good ol' white bread loaves. eat a slice for me.

BTW- I havent been on Twitter because it locked me out. I'm working on it. I swear, I'm in between blogs so I cant post and no twitter too. It's been a rough week1 LOL

tinyskillet said...

This is a really nice post! I absolutly love French Onion Soup, and I am very particular about it! Yours looks fantastic! Love the bread too! I can't wait to see what you make next!

Unknown said...

Looks great! I ADORE Taste of the South--I have every single issue and refer to them ALL the time. Some of my very favorite recipes came from this one. Definitely subscribe! You will not regret it! (and the special issues at Christmas are also AMAZING)

Barbara Bakes said...

How fun to make homemade french bread for your french onion soup. So fun that Abby wants to be in the kitchen with you. It looks delicious!

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

Your French bread looks beautiful. This recipe is a little different than the one I use and am definitely going to try it. The dough in my recipe is very hard to work with.

Megan said...

Yes, Julia sure has some strange recipes in there. I have my limits, too!

The bread looks just perfect - and the soup does as well.

brokeintrovert said...

I love your daughter's blog. I have a 13 year old daughter. She's been too busy with school right now to do much of anything...Well...she found myspace.com and spends a lot of time "chatting" with school friends--I let her because she only has about 15-20 minutes a night to do this...and I am sleepy at this time anyway.

brokeintrovert said...

Thanks for the french bread recipe! I love this blog!

Debbie said...

The bread looks so good and I've never made a yeast bread before. Your directions don't sound difficult at all so maybe I will give this a try...I'll let you know if I do!!!

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

April you won the cookbook!!! I will email you later tonight. Maybe we can get together for lunch or coffee!

brokeintrovert said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I know...what if it were something permanent like flooring or tile or counter tops! My husband said that he's not going to change the paint, though.

The Blonde Duck said...

I must try this bread. It looks delicious!

scrapsalot said...

What fun I have had looking at your blog. Thanks for some great recipes. I'm making recipe cards out of them so I'll always have them on hand. I've just started my own blog. Please stop by. Thanks.