French Bread Caremes Recipes

FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast and salt. Stir in 2 cups warm water, and beat until well blended using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.
• On a lightly floured surface, knead in enough flour to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic. Knead for about 8 to 10 minutes total. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn once. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled.
• Punch dough down, and divide in half. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into large rectangle. Roll up, starting from a long side. Moisten edge with water and seal. Taper ends.
• Grease a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Place loaves, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly beat the egg white with 1 tablespoon of water, and brush on. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise until nearly doubled, 35 to 40 minutes.
• With a very sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts about 1/4 inch deep across top of each loaf. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 20 minutes. Brush again with egg white mixture. Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until bread tests done. If necessary, cover loosely with foil to prevent over browning. Remove from baking sheet, and cool on a wire rack.

CLASSIC AND CRUSTY FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, sugar, and salt. Stir until dissolved.
• Mix in the bread flour, a little at a time, until a soft dough is formed.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead it for about 8 minutes.
• Put the dough in a greased bowl and flip the dough over so that all of the dough is lightly greased, including the dough top . Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 1 hour or until double in size.
• Punch down the dough .
• Give the dough a quick 2-minute knead.
• Divide the dough into 2 equal halves. Shape each half into a long loaf.
• Place the loaves on a lightly greased baking sheet. Make about 5 diagonal slits, 3/4 inch deep, into the top of each loaf.
• Cover loaves with a clean towel or greased plastic wrap and let them rise for 45 minutes or until double in size. Heat the oven to 400 F.
• If you'd like, brush the loaves with the beaten egg white for a shiny crust, and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds. Bake at 400 F for 5 minutes.
• Remove the loaves from the oven and use a mister or spray bottle to lightly spray the tops of the loaves with cold water. Turn the oven down to 350 F and bake the loaves for another 25 minutes or until done.
• Remove the loaves from the baking sheet and let them cool on a rack.

FRENCH BREAD ROLLS TO DIE FOR

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Deflate the dough, and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces, and form into round balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheets at least 2 inches apart. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

FRENCH BREAD - CAREME'S RECIPE

Steps:

• MIXING: Using an electric mixer with the flat beater (or by hand, but you'll be exhausted) add 3 cups of flour to the bowl and mix in the 2.5 cups water and the yeast. Add up to 1 more cup flour to make a dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Mix for 9 minutes. Monitor the dough to make sure that it does not creep up the sides of the bowl and onto the motor. Push it down with a spatula if required.
• While dough is being worked, dissolve salt and water. Add at the end of the 9 minutes, and mix 1 more minute.
• KNEAD: Switch to the dough hook for the mixer and knead for another 10 minutes. Add the remaining flour a little at a time until dough pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.
• FIRST RISING: Put dough into a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 2 hours. The dough should double or triple in volume.
• KNEAD: Gently remove dough from bowl and place onto a work surface. Knead by hand for 3 minutes.
• SECOND RISING: Put dough back into bowl and re-cover. Allow to rise 1.5 hours (dough should double or triple).
• SHAPING: Flour a work surface and gently remove dough from bowl onto the work surface. Punch down the dough and cut into 4 pieces. Allow dough to rest 5 minutes. Shape 4 pieces into baguettes or rounds. Place the shaped dough on a greased baking sheet (depending on the size of your baking sheet you may need to use 2 of them).
• THIRD RISING: Once shaped dough is on baking sheet, cover with cloth or paper towel and allow to rise for 1 hour. Dough should double in size.
• BAKING: Place an empty broiler pan on the floor of the oven. Then preheat oven to 450°F Once oven is preheated add 1 cup hot water to the broiler pan to develop steam in the oven (be careful you don't burn yourself on the initial burst of steam) and wait 5 minutes.
• Place baking sheet(s) in the oven and bake 20-30 minutes. I use a convection oven so I do not need to rotate during baking. Keep an eye on the bread to make sure it is cooking evenly if you have an oven with hot spots.
• The loaves should be golden-brown and should sound hard and hollow when tapped on the bottom.
• Remove loaves from pan and let them cool until you can handle them without burning yourself, then slice and enjoy!

CHEESY FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• Combine mayonnaise, Parmesan Cheese and garlic in small bowl; stir well.
• Set aside.
• Combine Cheddar Cheese, milk and paprika in small saucepan over low heat; stir constantly until cheese melts.
• Remove from heat, and stir in the mayonnaise mixture.
• Slice bread in half lengthwise, and spread cheese mixture on cut side of bread halves.
• Broil 6 inches from heat 2 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.