French Bread or Chewy Pizza Crust

I spent years trying to make good French Bread until I finally stumbled upon the secret. It's all in the sponge. It makes the recipe sound more complicated but it's very easy. Your family and friends will love you if you make them fresh home made bread with this recipe!

2 cups water
2 cups flour
1 heaping tablespoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
6 cups flour
1 cup warm water

Sponge: Mix 2 cups flour and 2 cups water together in your mixer (see "Simplify Your Cooking" below), to make a sponge in the evening. Cover and let sit covered at room temperature over night. (or make the sponge in the morning for dinner bread. You can let the sponge sit out for up to a day and a half. 6 Hour minimum is best.) If I set out the sponge and then find I don't use it the next day I just put it in the fridge until I want to use it.

French Bread: In the morning add yeast, sugar, 6 cups flour, salt and 1 cup water. Mix and knead. Let rise until double in size. Divide into two pieces for large loaves or four pieces for smaller loaves to give away. Roll each piece into a rectangle with a rolling pin. Starting at the long edge roll dough up pinching seam and ends. Spray with water and cut a slit down the dough lengthwise. Let all the loaves rise until double on a single jelly roll pan (cookie sheet) lightly coated with shortening and then corn meal. Bake in oven on the lowest rack at 400 degrees until brown and hard when tapped. About 20 minutes. Spray bread and oven with water several time throughout baking (about every five minutes) to get a hard crust.

Pizza Crust: Follow directions above, letting the dough rise once. (If you don’t have time to let it rise at all just roll it out “as is” and it will still make a good crust.) Roll a portion of it into a pizza crust and top with your favorite toppings. Bake on a pizza stone dusted with corn meal (or a greased and dusted cookie sheet) at 425 on the bottom rack of your oven. Makes about 2 crusts.

*If you don't use all the dough you can leave it covered in the fridge and roll it out for pizza again the next night. You can also store it in the freezer in a bag sprayed with cooking spray.

*This recipe makes great dinner rolls, hamburger buns, bread sticks or anything else you can think of.