Sourdough French Bread Loaves
By: Yummyfoodies
Published: Thursday, December 10, 2009 - 5:11pm

Ingredients




1 1/2 cups starter or levain
1 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 cups bread flour
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tablespoon instant dry yeast

Preparation

1 In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. 2 Knead well, while using extra flour (about half a cup), until the dough is smooth and very stiff (about 10 minutes). In the late stage of kneading you can add seeds, chopped sun dried tomatoes, rosemary, thyme etc. 3 When done, put it in a bowl, cover and let it stand until it doubles 4 It's size (about 1.5-2 hours). 5 When the dough doubles, shape it into two loaves. Place them on baking paper or greased cookie sheets. Let the loaves rise, until they double their size (another 1.5-2 hors). 6 Preheat the oven half an hour before baking to 425 F/218 C. If you are not using baking stone, you can use 2 baking dishes, one nested in the other, with a gap between them. It's important not to let a direct contact between bread and  the oven heat source. While the oven is preheating, leave the baking dishes there too. 7 Slash the loaves with a sharp knife, put them in the preheated baking dishes and bake 35 min. Also put in the oven a dish with boiling water for the first 8-10 min of baking. 8 When done, take the loves out of the oven and let them cool.

About


This is a version of an original recipe by Richard Packham.