French Bread

Combine yeast and 1/4 cup warm water in a large bowl and let yeast dissolve. Add salt, the rest of the water and a splash of olive oil.
Add the flour one cup at a time, stirring in between additions. The dough will gradually stiffen and pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Once all of the flour has been added and the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes until it turns smooth and springy to the touch.

Wash out and butter the bowl you just used to mix the dough. Place the dough back inside it and cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Set it in a warm place and allow dough to rise until doubled in size. Depending on the warmth of your kitchen it will take between 1-2 hours to rise.

Once the dough is done rising, take it out of the bowl, punch it down and cut the dough into two equal halves. Preheat oven to 350 F.

Now it’s time to shape the loaves. I generally flatten the dough with a rolling pin till it’s relatively even and then fold the long edges into each other. Flip it over so the smooth side is on top.

Place the loaves on a baking sheet, slash the tops of the loaves with a knife several times and spray with a fine mist of water.

Place in a 350 F oven and bake for 40 minutes.