Ok, I wanted to try baking baguettes and I made my first attempt today. I made a previous entry with a recipe but after I got home last night from shopping I realized the recipe called for regular yeast and I only had quick rise (highly active) fleishmans. So instead of braving the cold just to pick up yeast, I decided to make a recipe using quick rise. I read a few recipes and came up with my own.

Ingredients:
1 pkt quick rise (highly active) dry yeast
2 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
5 1/2 x to 6 cups unbleached flour

Method:

sprinkle yeast over 1/4 c. warm water in the food processor bowl. Add sugar and let stand 5 mins. Add in remaining 1 3/4 cups water and salt. Add 4 cups of the flour. Process until a ball starts to form. Gradually add about 1 more cup of flour to make a soft dough. Turn dough out onto a board or pastry cloth floured with some of the remaining 1/2 to 1 cup flour. I kneaded the dough for just a couple mins because I think the processor did most of the work. Turn dough into a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (about 1.5 hours).

Punch down dough; knead dough lightly into a ball on a floured surface. Cover with inverted bowl and let rest for 10 minutes. Divide dough into 3 equal portions (I actually made 2 large and 2 small baguettes to experiment). Shape each into a slender oval loaf 16 to 18 inches long by rolling the ball of dough under palms of hands to elongate it. Place well apart on a large, greased baking sheet. Let ride until puffy but not quite doubled (20 to 25 minutes). Preheat oven to 450 degrees. With a razor blade or very sharp knife make 3 diagonal slashes, about 1/2 inch deep, down center of each loaf. A lot of recipes called for spraying water at 3 minute intervals, but since I didn't have a spray can, I just placed a small pan of water in the bottom of the oven. Bake until bread is well browned (25 to 30 minutes total). Slide onto wire racks to cool.
Yield: Makes 3 loaves

My notes:

It was pretty good for a first attempt I think. They looked nice and had a decent texture. I wish they had a bit more flavor though. After consulting with mom, I'm thinking perhaps it could have more flavor if I used a regular yeast and had a starter (poolish). Also, this made pretty big loaves so I think if using this much flour next time, I would make 6 small loaves. I read that you can freeze them and bring them back to life by sprinkling some water and baking to warm. There's always attempt #2!