Baguettes

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 package (or 2 1/4 teaspoons) dry active yeast
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 1 1/4 cups tepid water

Directions

Mix together into a dough.

Pour out onto a board and let the dough rest two minutes. Knead 5-10 minutes, letting rest another minute. Repeat until dough looks smooth. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and let rise at ~75° F to 3 1/2 times its original size (minimum 3 hours).

Scrape thedough onto a floured surface with your hands and pat down. Fold over, transfer to a bowl, and let rise again. Again scrape onto floured surface and deflate the dough.

Heat the oven to 450° F.

Cut dough into thirds, folding each in half, and let rise 3-5 minutes. Work the dough into long loaves and place on a floured pastry canvas on a baking sheet. Let rest 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle corn meal onto a board, flip loaves over onto board, and transfer to a baking sheet. Cut lines into dough, spray lightly with water, and transfer to bottom rack of the oven. At minute two and minute four, spray again with water. At minute six, transfer to middle the rack. At minute twenty, turn off oven and leave in the oven another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.