French Bread a la Home Depot
It’s time to post the February Daring Bakers Challenge! This month Breadchick Mary of The Sour Dough and Sara of I Like to Cook teamed up to share Julia Child’s French bread recipe with us. The original recipe can be found in Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 2
Rather than posting the recipe here (It’s very lengthy and includes lots of variables, but don’t be intimidated. It’s actually quite easy to make and results in a wonderful, artisan-style French bread!) Breadchick Mary has kindly posted the original recipe here.
I ended up making this recipe twice. The first time I wasn’t happy with the way my photos came out. It turns out my camera was on the wrong setting. Besides, the first batch was eaten up so quickly I needed more! At my husband’s request, I made a slight change the second time around. While shaping one of the three batards, I sprinkled in some Carrabba’s Style Herb Mix. I used just a touch, but it added a wonderful flavor!
While you can simply place the dough on a baking sheet and toss it into your pre-heated oven, you’ll get better results by placing a large baking stone or several quarry tiles on your oven rack and baking directly on those tiles. I purchased several unglazed quarry tiles at Home Depot for $0.33 each.
You’ll also need a way to produce steam during the first few minutes of baking. I placed a 2-inch deep baking pan filled with 1 inch of water on the bottom rack. I heated a spare quarry tile on the stovetop (It cracked, but at $0.33 per tile I wasn’t concerned.) and used tongs to transfer it to the pan of water just as I placed the bread in the oven.
A high-powered mixer with the dough hook attached makes short work of kneading.
Ready for the first rise.
Shaped batards on the floured canvas.
About to go in the oven.
Fin.
Visit the Daring Bakers Blogroll to see how everyone else did with this month’s challenge.
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February 29th, 2008 at 2:46 am
Great idea with the tiles. I’ll have to remember that. Your loaves came perfect.
February 29th, 2008 at 2:48 am
Dawn, it looks really wonderful! You really did an excellent job on this bread!
February 29th, 2008 at 4:13 am
wow it looks so good! those slashes are wonderful!
February 29th, 2008 at 8:05 am
using the tiles is a great idea! Your bread looks aweome! Well done.
February 29th, 2008 at 8:51 am
these are gorgeous french bread!! great job for this month’s db challenge!!
February 29th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Your bread is very great.It’s look good when cut, too.
February 29th, 2008 at 10:16 am
That looks great — the texture of your bread looks wonderful!
February 29th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Wow! Your bread looks fantastic and I can’t wait to go purchase some tiles at Home Depot. I have a baking stone but it wasn’t nearly big enough so the tiles are a great idea!
February 29th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Your loaves turned out fantastically!
February 29th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Your loaves look perfect. I should buy some tiles - I used my pizza stone, but it was just barely big enough!
February 29th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
awesome idea! What a resourceful person you are! I will have to try this with my homemade pizza as well. Much more room. Also will work with my pitas. I am so inspired. Can you tell?
February 29th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Your bread looks amazing! I’m impressed you made it twice too! I looked at Home Depot, but they didn’t have any quarry tiles here.
February 29th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Love your photography.
The bread looks fantastic- making my mouth water!
February 29th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Beautiful Bread! Looks Delicious!
February 29th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
The colour on your batards is marvellous! Well done! Thanks for the tips on the unglazed tiles. Cheers!
February 29th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Fantastic effort. Your bread looks amazing.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Your bread turned out great! I’ve been using a baking stone, but I think I need to get some quarry tiles to increase the baking surface.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Well done, Dawn. Your bread looks great! And thanks for converting the recipe to a pdf. I linked it to my post.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Wow, those are really nice baguettes! Great job on the challenge.
February 29th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
OMG! it is so beautiful . . . you really got the hands to bake such gorgeous bread, Julia child had tested my patient! lol!
March 1st, 2008 at 12:50 am
great post! love your bread!
March 1st, 2008 at 12:51 am
Now I wish I would have gone and priced those tiles. I just did mine on a pizza stone, but it was kinda hard to finagle them all on there - truth be told, they had to take turns. ;0)
March 1st, 2008 at 2:27 am
wow you simulated the baker’s oven! true DBer! great photos, your loaves look great…
March 1st, 2008 at 5:12 am
Great loaves, great pictures. Fantastic!
March 1st, 2008 at 8:06 am
The photo series is great and your bread turned out the way it should! (No, I don’t cry seeing those tiles….nowhere to be found here…)
March 1st, 2008 at 9:57 am
way to go making the bread twice! Your loaves looks beautiful. Great idea with the tiles. I’m going to try that!
March 1st, 2008 at 10:39 am
Your breads turned out picture perfect and great step by step photos. The quarry tiles do make all the difference in the world to this bread.
Thanks for baking with Sara and I
March 1st, 2008 at 10:53 am
You did a fabulous job on your bread and your pictures.
Natalie @ Gluten a Go Go
March 1st, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Dawn, great interior structure. I think I’m going to home depot RIGHT now to get some of those tiles. My pizza stone just isn’t big enough.
March 1st, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Am so jealous of your mixer - still loads of time waiting for the doughs to rise, but it certainly makes it easier to take on two batches when you’re not glutinously tied to the dough. Great tip about the tile!
March 1st, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I love the first picture of your bread - delicious!
March 1st, 2008 at 8:41 pm
[...] making Julia Child’s French bread set me on a bread-baking frenzy [...]
March 2nd, 2008 at 4:27 am
very nice! thanks for baking with us this month.
March 2nd, 2008 at 9:30 am
My oh my I love the happy holes on your loaves! And it’s weird but I noticed a smiley face on the loaf in the last pic! Can you see it too?!
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Wow–you went all out! I’m impressed!
March 3rd, 2008 at 12:56 am
Your bread looks so beautiful and spongy. Maybe I should get some tiles, too.
March 3rd, 2008 at 1:58 am
beautiful loaves! wish i had looked into the quarry tiles…had no idea they were so inexpensive :)
March 11th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Your bread looks so great! I love that you have a Voki too!