Classic French Bread
by Tony van Roon





Choose this crusty, chewy bread to serve with soup, stew, or pasta. To give it an Italian flair, add 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese and ½ teaspoon garlic powder with the flour. Ofcourse, this is optional. Enjoy!
1 pound loaf              Ingredients                  1 1/2 pound loaf
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3/4 cup                   water                        1 1/4 cup
1 tablespoon              butter or margarine          1 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon              salt                         3/4 teaspoon
2 1/4 cups                bread flour                  3 1/2 cups
1 1/2 teaspoons           bread machine yeast          2 teaspoons
                          Cornmeal
                          Vegetable oil
1                         white from large egg         1
1 tablespoon              water                        1 tablespoon
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Add ¾ cup [1¼ cups] water, salt, bread flour, and yeast to bread machine pan in the order suggested by manufacturer. Select dough/manual cycle.

When cycle is complete, remove dough from machine to a lightly floured surface. If necessary, knead in enough flur to make dough easy to handle. Roll dough into a 15x10 inch rectangle. [For 1½ pound recipe, devide dough in half and roll each half into a 10x8 inch rectangle.]

Beginning at long end, roll up tightly as you do for a yelly roll. Pinch the seams and ends to seal. Taper ends by gently rolling back and forth. Place each loaf, seam side down, on a greased baking or cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Lightly brush each loaf with the vegetable oil. Cover and let rise in warm, draft-free place until almost doubled in size, about 10 to 15 minutes. With a sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts about ¼ inch deep accross the top of each loaf. Lightly beat egg white and 1 tablespoon water; brush some of the egg-white mixture over top of each loaf. This will give it the traditional 'shine' on the Classic French Bread(s). Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes. Brush again with remaining egg white mixture. Bake 5 tp 10 minutes more or until done--bread should sound hollow when tapped. (For even browning when baking two loaves, switch positions of sheets halfway through baking). Remove the bread(s) from the sheet(s); cool on wire rack.

Cycle: Use the dough/manual cycle.
Bread-Machine Recipes