French Bread

A good recipe.

Basic Preparation:

Dissolve yeast and sugar in a cup of lukewarm water. It should foam after 5-10 min. Meanwhile, put flour and salt in a large bowl. pour yeast mixture over flour and mix with a spoon until the liquid is absorbed. Knead the dough well for about 10 min. Add more water or flour if necessary. It should make a ball that does not stick to the hands. Let it rest while cleaning and drying the bowl (and our hands). Put oil in bowl.  Knead again for one or two minutes. Make a ball and put it in the bowl, so that its surface is covered with oil. Cover and let it rest in a warm place for 1-2 hours until it doubles its size. Punch the ball to let the gas out.

Normal Bread:

Make a few shallow diagonal cuts with a knife, paint with water and place in shallow tray. Place in cold oven, with a baking tray with boiling water in the bottom shelf. Bake at 425F/210C for 35-45 min.

Light bread:

Let dough raise for a second time (about 45 min). After half hour, pre- heat oven to 500F/260C (about 15 min) with a shallow tray of boiling water. Paint dough with water, and bake for 10 min. Then lower the temperature to 400F/200C and bake for 10 more minutes.