French Bread (Wheat Version)

I love French bread, but even in a cosmopolitan city like Chicago, that crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside delicious version is hard to find. So I've been making different versions to try to get an approximation of what you find in the boulangeries of Versaille (where I could walk a block and find amazing French bread). This isn't it, but it is a really good, tasty version of wheat baguettes. Crusty home made bread should be eaten in the first day or two after it is made, or it grows too stale.

Yield: 2 loaves

2 Cups warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
5-5 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (not all purpose flour)

Preheat the oven to 375

Put the 2 cups of warm water (it should be around 110 degrees so as not to kill the yeast) in a big bowl. Add the yeast and sugar and stir to help it dissolve. Let it sit so that the yeast can proof (this will take about 10 minutes), which basically means it foams up in the water.

Add salt, oil, and 3 cups of the flour, stir for a bout 2 minutes

Add the remaining flour (start with 2 cups and add the 1/2 cup if it seems to need it) and stir. The dough will be thick, so I usually coat my hands with flour and mix by hand after a while.

Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, until smooth.

Oil a bowl with some canola or vegetable oil and put dough inside. Spin the dough around to coat all sides with the oil. Cover with a cloth and let it rise until its size doubles (I left it like an hour)

Punch it down and then divide it in half.

Shape the dough into two long slender loaves (i.e. shape it to look like French bread). It kind of reminds me of making snakes from play dough in grade school.

Take a large cookie sheet, grease it and sprinkle it with corn meal. This makes the bottom of the bread delicious.

Place loaves on the pan and cut diagonal slits across the top, about 4 or 5. This allows gas exchange in the bread.

Cover and let rise until doubled (I left out this step, and my bread turned out fine, so I guess its optional)

Wet your hands and run them over the bread to get the top of the bread wet. You can also mist them with a spray bottle. This is what makes the crust cruncy, which in my opinion is essential!

Bake for about 30 minutes.