Who you callin crusty??

In another effort to play catch up with last weeks baking adventures I introduce you to Crusty!! Crusty was the star of those delicious cheese sandwiches I grilled up for "Cheese Sandwich Day" last Thursday. I randomly stumbled onto this website: cookingcache where I found a somewhat sketchy recipe for a crusty French bread that seemed to have some potential. So I printed the recipe out and went to improvising, and ended up with a tasty bread that is great for making paninis, garlic bread, crostini and everything in between. I even made banana nutella dessert paninis with it!! Crusty French Bread yields 2 8 inch long loaves 1 pkg (1/4 oz) active dry yeast 1 1/2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees), divided 1 Tbsp sugar 2 tsp salt 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted 4 cups all-purpose flour cornmeal Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Add sugar, salt, melted butter, and remaining 1 cup warm water; stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until smooth (do not knead). Cover and let rise in a warm draft free place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Turn onto a floured surface. Divide dough in half; let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into a 10 x 8" rectangle. Roll up from a long side; pinch to seal seam. Place seam side down on greased baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. If desired sprinkle top of loaves with cornmeal. Bake until golden brown and loaves sound hollow when tapped on. (The recipe didn't indicate a baking temperature or time. I found 450 to be an appropriate temperature. I think I baked the loaves for about 20-30 minutes.)