French Countryside Bread (bread Machine - Abm)

Total Time: 3 hrs 10 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients

• 1 3/8 cups water, room temperature
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4 cups bread flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Recipe

• 1 add all ingredients to your bread machine as your directions instruct.
• 2 mine go like this:.
• 3 add liquid ingredients to bread pan.
• 4 add all dry ingredients, except yeast, to bread pan.
• 5 make a well in the dry ingredients and carefully add the yeast into the well.
• 6 select the "french" setting on your machine.
• 7 select crust color, if applicable.
• 8 press start!
• 9 oven method:.
• 10 to make loaves in the oven, use the "dough" cycle on your machine.
• 11 when cycle is complete, punch dough down and divide into 2 equal parts.
• 12 on a lightly floured surface, roll each half into a rectangle, about 10 x 15.
• 13 starting at the long side, roll each rectangle, jelly roll style, into a tight, long loaf. seal seams and ends by pinching dough together.
• 14 place loaves seam sides down on a large, ungreased baking sheet. you may sprinkle some cornmeal or flour on the pan under where you'll be placing the loaves.
• 15 cover loaves with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes, until almost double in size.
• 16 preheat oven to 375*. place a pan of hot water on the bottom rack of your oven. this will create steam inside the oven while the bread is baking to give you an authentic crust.
• 17 using a very sharp knife, carefully make 3 or 4 diagonal slashes in each loaf, cutting about 1/2 inch down into dough.
• 18 if you choose, at this time you can carefully brush on an egg glaze (one egg beaten with 1 tbl. of water) and sprinkle with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried onion or garlic, etc., if desired.
• 19 bake for 25-30 minutes (or until loaves sound hollow when tapped) on middle oven rack.
• 20 cool on wire racks and serve warm.