Forming Boule:
Place 1/2 bread dough on a square of parchment paper using a spatula to smooth and shape the dough into a ball.
Repeat with the second half of the dough or follow the below instructions to create 2 baguettes.
Lift the paper holding the ball and place it into the bowl a bit smaller than your pot to rise. Nestle the second ball along side.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place into oven with oven light on but no heat.
Let rise for 4 hours or till doubled. If you want to be able to walk away for a bit longer, just pop the bread in the fridge instead. It can rise there as long as 12 hours.
Bring the bread to room temp while preheating your pot and oven.
Remove the dough balls from the bowl using the paper as a lifting aid.
Cut slashes 1 inch into each loaf using your sharpest knife or a razor blade.
Be decorative, these are the areas of lighter white that you see on artisan loaves. I typically slash two parallel lines on either side of the ball, turn the loaf 90 degrees and slash two more parallel lines to form a square on the top of the loaf. These slashes will allow for oven rise, the extra lift that happens as the bread is put into a hot oven.
Baking:
Put your pot into the oven and preheat both to 450 degrees.
When the oven is fully preheated, carefully remove the pot from the oven. Watch out, this is where it is easy to burn you!
Remove the lid, then lift the bread dough into the pot, using the paper as a lifting aid.
Sprinkle with coarse sea salt if desired, replace the cover.
Put the pot into the oven and set your timer for 35 minutes.
Grab an instant read thermometer and a cuppa tea.
Relax for the half hour or so.
When the timer goes off, use the instant read to check the internal temperature of the bread. It should be 190-200 degrees when done.
If the bread is fully browned, just put it on a cooling rack.
If it could use just a bit more browning, remove the bread from the pot (again using the paper as a lifting aid) and place on the oven rack for 5 minutes more.
For the Baguettes:
Forming:
With the other half of the dough, either repeat for a second boule or form into 2 baguettes.
This week my "new" office manager resigned. She wanted to experience the world of a naturopathic physician before she made the commitment to 4+ years of education and $200,000 worth of student loans.
Now I have the ability to go beyond my office walls to help other people using video conferencing and telephone consults. My contracts with the various insurance companies prohibited that before.
UPDATE: If you are one of the fortunate souls who have a packet of my dried sourdough starter, you need to let it grow to be your cultured sourdough starter.
Take 3 cups of the flour food blend, add 3 cups of water and let it ferment for 2 days.
Then go ahead and make the recipe.
Thanks Kimberly for reminding to tell you how to do it.
And if this isn't enough to inspire you, head on over to and check out their archives. They have lots of fun bread recipes to play around with and convert to gluten free.