Sunday morning with French Baguette

Feel like having baguette for breakfast this morning, I love this bread when I first set my foot in Paris in 1994, I stayed in Sofitel Paris and that was during winter and Ramadhan. Perut dah keroncong after whole day touring the city alone. Nobody want to follow me coz it's freezing cold.
On the way back to hotel I saw this shop selling bread and bought the baguette, ate it during breaking fast and since then I love it. Tapi di Malaysia ni roti ni punya lah keras Dan liat! Mungkin kena makan fresh agaknya but in Paris walaupun tak fresh tapi sedap juga, entah lah maybe that is personal. Semua orang Ada citarasa sendiri kannnn! Yang pentimg my baguette baru siap Dan memanggil-manggil mintak di Makan tu! Woohoo....... Jom Makan !


Easy French Bread
Source: Daily Delicious
Make 2 (33 cm long breads)


300g ............................... Bread flour
1tsp ................................. Honey
1½tsp ............................. Instant yeast
1tbsp ............................... Olive oil
200ml ............................. Water
1½tsp ............................. Coarse sea salt
.......................................... Yellow cornmeal for sprinkle over the pan
2cup ................................ Boiling water for baking



Mix olive oil, honey and water together, put flour, instant yeast and salt in the bowl, whisk to combine. Use large spoon (or pastry scraper) to mix everything together, and knead briefly to bring all the ingredients together.Take the dough out of the bowl and knead if the dough is a bit dry sprinkle with 1-2 tbsp water, you will see the dough will be elastic. (See how to knead here).

Put the dough into a light oiled bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm place until double in size (can be 1 hour or 1 hour and a half check often depend on the temperature).

Place a baking paper or silicone baking mat over a sheet pan, or use a French bread pan (I use this one), sprinkle with the yellow cornmeal.
Divide the dough into 2 pieces.
Roll into balls and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
Press the ball lightly and shape into a long oval, do the same with another ball.

Use the side of your hand press the center of the dough, and roll again (do it 2-3 times until you get a desired length )
Place the shaped dough over a prepared pan.
Let the dough rise until almost double in size, about 30 minutes.


Preheat the oven 220°C and place a roasting pan in the lowest shelf of the oven.

With a very sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts about 1/4 inch deep across top of each loaf. Put the bread into the oven and pour the boiling water into the roasting pan, bake for 10 minutes.
Reduce the heat to 200°C bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until bread golden.
Remove from baking sheet, and cool on a wire rack.