I wasn't going to post about this, but we made French bread!!! Julia Child's French bread!! So how could I not?!?! We are not done perfecting the process, so I cannot actually provide true critique on the recipe itself. BUT WE MADE BREAD!!!
Let me just start by saying:
"How can you tell how good bread is without testing it? Not the smell, not the look, but the sound of the crust. Listen. [bread crackles] Oh, symphony of crackle. Only great bread sound this way." - Ratatouille
Yes, our bread crackled.
Have you ever bought bread from the grocery store that 'crackled' (that wasn't also as hard as a rock)? I've never had crackly crust on a super-soft gooey melt-in-your-mouth bread. It just hasn't happened in my 20-something years of living.
Then, Justin added some delicious Charleston balsamic vinager, fresh parmesan, and fresh diced tomato to a slice of bread... just for me! I was in heaven! So delicious!
But anyway, back to the bread. We did initially have some trouble getting the recipe right. Then we let the dough rise too long. But overall, our first experience French bread making was enough of a success to encourage us to attempt it again. (We are considering getting Raymond Calvel's book on bread making. It's a bit expensive, but it is so exciting to have amazing tasting bread!)
Anyway, the bread has gotten stale on us. (Any recommendations for keeping French bread fresh longer than 2 days?) We are currently in the process of making it a second time. We can't wait to have it again!
