Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday: Homemade French Bread

Homemade bread has an amazing taste, it also smells amazing as it's baking.  Bread is definitely one of my favorite foods, especially when it's freshly baked and still warm - a little butter doesn't hurt either.  This French Countryside Bread is no exception.  I usually make it to go with soup, but the leftovers are delicious as a grilled cheese sandwich.  The ends make nice croutons too.  I make it in the bread machine, but I'm sure if you are a professional dough hook yielding lady, you could probably make it in your kitchen aid as well, and then bake it in your oven.  So, without further ado, the star of the show...

French Countryside Bread
Makes: 1 -2 lb loaf

1 and 3/8 c Water
1 and 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 and 1/2 tsp Salt
4 c Bread Flour
1 tbsp Sugar
2 tsp Active Dry Yeast

1.) Add ingredients to your bread machine pan in the order listed, making a well in the flour for the yeast.
2.) Snap your bread pan inside the bread machine, and close the lid.  
3.) (For my machine - Oster 2 lb Expressbake Breadmaker) Press Select to chose the French setting.
4.) Press the Crust Color button to choose light, medium, or dark crust -- I chose light for the loaf above.
5.) Press the Start/Stop button.  The machine will do the rest, and in 3 hours and 50 minutes later, you have a delicious loaf of bread waiting for you!  Enjoy!