Given trends for sourdough, high moisture, and no-knead breads, Beard on Bread may seem distinctly out of touch with current practice. But that small book (paired with Beard on Pasta) was, perhaps, my introduction to breadmaking, and I still rely on one easy and remarkable recipe – his French-style bread, page 47 (to which my copy opens automatically).
I’ve made this scores of times, and it never loses popularity. This is not a bread full of delightful cavities, and it certainly bears little similarity to a French batard. If anything, it seems like a substantial, chewy Italian bread. It’s charm is that the loaves are served hot, usually straight from the oven. With many breads, that can be an issue, with so many last minute steps for preparation, or with collapsing crumb. But this bread is très simple. The ingredients are the most basic: bread flour, warm water, instant yeast, sugar, and salt, plus egg white and sesame seed for the finish and cornmeal for the bake, as is the process.
I scoop 3 cups of flour into my Kitchen-Aide, add the dry ingredients, give it a stir, then add the water and bring knead until I have a well-formed ball. Once that has risen, still in the mixer bowl until doubled (30-45 minutes), I gently break it down with the kneading attachment, pull it out onto a board, form a long loaf, place it on a layer of cornmeal on cooking pan, paint with an egg white/water wash, sprinkle on sesame seed, make a few gashes, and put it in a cold oven. Turn the oven on and in about 35 minutes you have lovely hot bread for immediate service.
Historically, I followed the recipe exactly and made two loaves. Below I’ll give a modified recipe for a single loaf, as well as instructions for using a cloche. I pour the following ingredients into the mixing bowl. The nice thing is that you can set this up well in advance, timing the actual addition of water and kneading to come from the oven for hot service.
- 3 cups bread flour (reserve 1/2 cup for adjustments)
- 2+ tsp (a scant Tbsp) active dry yeast
- 1 & 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 & 1/2 tsp sugar
About two hours before I plan to serve straight from the oven, I pour in the 1 cup nearly hot water and set the mixer to knead, adding the remaining flour as required to get a clean, firm ball of dough. Letting the mixer do its work, I stop the dough hook when the ball is well-worked and fully free from the bowl. Turning the mixer off, I prepare the other ingredients – a small bowl with egg white and water in a 1:1 proportion, whipped to a froth, a nice sampling of raw sesame seed, and a pan lightly covered with corn meal.
Extracting the doughball from the bowl, I shape it into a thick batard, ready for the baking pan. If you don’t use a cloche, then set the formed loaf on baking sheet with cornmeal, paint with the egg white, seed generously with sesame, make some nice-looking slashes, and then set the pan in a cold over. Turn the oven to 400 F, and bake for about 35 minutes, until it’s a lovely brown and taps hollow on the bottom.
I now use a cloche (Challenger, which works for batard shapes). To replicate the second quick rise in a newly started oven, I preheat the oven, but not the cloche. Placing, forming, and finishing the surface in the cloche, I close the pan and set the room temp cloche in the hot oven. About twenty minutes into the baking I remove the top of the cloche for crisping.
Link to this Page: https://botanyincontext.com/james-beards-quick-french-bread/