5 cups plus 2
teaspoons bread flour
2 cups cold water
1 1/2 packages active dry yeast
4 ounces Nicoise olives, pitted and
sliced (roll a rolling pin over the olives to make them easier to pit)
2 teaspoons salt
1. Insert the
dough hook into an electric mixer and on 1 or low speed, combine 5 cups flour
and the water for 4 minutes. Sprinkle the yeast over the dough, turn the speed
to 2, and mix about 5 minutes longer. (Dough will pull cleanly away from the
bowl.)
2. Toss the olives with the 2 teaspoons
flour, add to the dough with the salt and mix 2 minutes longer. Remove the bowl
from the mixer, cover with a clean tea towel, and let rest for 15 minutes.
3. Turn the dough out on a heavily
floured surface, lightly knead into a ball, and let rest, covered for 45
minutes.
4. Punch out the air, cut the dough in
half, and shape into two baguettes. Place the loaves on one or two baking trays,
sprinkle with flour, cover with the towel, and let rest for 45 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
6. With a single edge razor blade or a
very sharp knife, make a slash down the center of each loaf. Carefully slide the
breads onto a baking stone and bake 10 minutes. Spray with water (a spray can or
bottle used for misting plants works well) and continue baking until the bread
is well-browned, about 1 hour and 10 minutes longer. (Baking at 400 degrees F
will give you a crustier bread, but you can bake the bread at 425 degrees F for
1 hour, 10 minutes.) Cool on a rack.
from cooking.com