"French" Bread

I tried my hand at Betsy Oppenneer's recipe for "French" bread (from The Bread Book) yesterday.  It's not technically French bread because my oven lacks fancy steam injection (can you believe that?!?), and I made it from our standard all-purpose flour.  Despite the fact that my crust will never be perfectly crusty/flaky/delicious, I labor on.  To develop more flavor and a chewier texture, the bread dough uses half the usual amount of yeast (only one scant tablespoon, no fat, and rises FOREVER (seriously- 5 total hours).  Here it is after its second rising.

My bread rose pretty well, but not to as lofty of heights as I would have liked.  I didn't get the wonderful holey texture of an authentic French Bread.  I fear our very chilly cabin is to blame; next time they'll rise in a slightly warmed oven, just like all our other bread.  The end result was four handsome and tasty baguettes.

 

  

And today's lunch, a Quorn pattie with fresh muenster cheese, horseradish mustard, and homemade bread.