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This recipe comes from "Home Baking-The Artful Mix of Flour and Tradition Around the World" by Alford and Duguid. I don't know if this book is known on this board as I recently got involved with this site. It is available from chapters.ca and is well worth it. They have 3 excellent books that have 3 of my passions-food, travel, and photography.This is not the speediest bread to make,but it is great.

Portugese Mountain Rye

Poolish 1/2 cup warm water tiny pinch of yeast 1/2 cup unbleached flour

Give the poolish 24 hours at least.

Starter All of the poolish 1 cup water 2 cups dark rye flour Stir the water into the poolish and then add the flour. Mix well. I use a wisk to aerate it. Let it sit loosely covered overnight on the counter.

Bread

Next day, add 3 cups warm water to the starter and mix well in a large bowl. Sometimes, I just use my hands at this point, as it can be pretty tough using a spoon. I take a couple of cups of this mixture as a starter for my next batch. Keep it covered in the fridge and it lasts for a long time.

Add another 1 cup of water to the bowl and 4 tsp salt.Mix. Add 2-3 cups flour to this and add a touch more if you need it. It should still be sticky, but not goopy.

Here is the hard part for me. Knead it for 10 minutes-set the timer, no cheating here. It really does make a difference! You'll need to add more flour as you go, at least one cup, but add slowly.It should still have a definite stickiness if you want to get any rise.

Put the dough into a slightly oiled bowl and make sure it is evenly coated. Wrap it in plastc and set it into the fridge overnight.

Next morning, form 2 boules and let them come to room temperature, then let them rise, covered. They should not double, but maybe 40%. I'm always surprised how long this takes, so be patient as it'll take 4-6 hours at least. You may be able to speed this up by putting it in the oven with the light on, but I've never tried.

Make a few slashes before baking at 500 for 15 min, then 45-50 at 425. I rotate them at least once. The internal temp will be around 205 and the loaves will have a definite thump. Cool on racks-the first piece is a moment of heaven.

With the site turning one year old, I decided it was time to finally put together an article on French Bread. Regular readers probably have noticed that while I bake some kind of French Bread (rustic bread, pan sur poolish, etc.) almost every week, I've yet to do an article on it. It isn't because I haven't wanted to, I just haven't thought I was good enough at it to offer any advice.

Well, I'm still not great, but after a year of baking and chatting with folks here I have gotten better, good enough that I feel like it isn't presumptuous to offer some advice to newbies, particularly if they are offered in the grain of "Don't make the same mistakes I did. Because, believe me, I've made some doozies."

Initially I thought it'd be a short piece, but as I started writing I realized it is going to be longer. I was going to write them all and then drop them here with a big "tah dah!," but then I thought it'd make more sense to open them up for scrutiny to other community members. After all, probably a majority of the tricks I've learned I've learned from folks here.

So here is what I've got so far. The other tips will follow as I write them up the next few days. Please, add comments to offer advice, suggestions, corrections, criticisms, whatever tickles your fancy.

Once all of the tips have been written up and your suggestions and corrections have been incorporated into the text, I'll publish this article to the front page of the site. I think it'll be a good one, and I'm looking forward to hearing people's comments. I'd love to see this one be more of a collaborative effort.

What better title for my first blog than a turn of the phrase from that classic book by Betty MacDonald, The Egg and I? Usually if I want something catchy I have to borrow from someone brighter than myself.

A little introduction, I am Teresa and I live in North Carolina, which is a Southern state in the US. Among the things that I am, I am a bread maker. I'm also a mom, sister, daughter, friend and quilter. I started making bread in earnest about 30 years ago when I used the very basic of tools, a bowl, wooden spoon, measuring cups and spoons, and my hands. I've taught bread classes in my home, to 4H groups, as my job in a retail gourmet store, and I'm not yet tired of making bread.

Through the years I've tried many different kinds of breads from simple daily loaves to challah, hoska, brioche, stollen, focaccia, rolls, English muffins, pizza, sweet breads, and whole grain breads. These days I mostly bake grain breads using the 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 grain cereals. I guess I want the biggest nutritional bang from my bread. Two years ago I sent off for the Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter maintained by the Carl's Friends group of bakers. Finally, success with Sourdough! Now that my starter has some age on it, it is getting a nice sour twang that I can be proud of.

With the help of the fine people at Pizzamaking.com I am working on perfecting my pizza dough. This past year I practiced on the New York-style and making a sauce that consistently suited my taste. Quarry tiles line my lowest oven rack for baking pizza and I use my wood peel (with the help of parchment paper) to transfer the pizza from the counter to the baking tiles.

I bake bread just about every weekend and other times when I have time off from my job. As an Event Coordinator at a textile company, I have the pleasure to plan business lunches and special events for many people. They know I'll always try to feed them well! Like most bakers, I share the breads I make with many co-workers, my family and my friends. I could not possibly eat all the bread I make - could you?

Bread making is such a satisfying pursuit. While I'm mixing and kneading I think about all those bread makers who came before me, the farm wife on the prairie during the Depression, the housewives in small hometowns during the 50's, hippies in communes during the 60's, and men, women, and children everywhere who have experienced the magic of making a loaf of bread, then shared it, still warm from the oven, with another person.

I will plan to make entries here as I proceed with my bread making. And now, I can post photos of my results as well.

T.

I've been meaning to mention that this site is one year old now. Check out the first post.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed and participated in the discussions.

May your bread always rise!