Poolish
Whisk ¼ teaspoon yeast in 1/3 cup warm water. Stir in whole wheat flour until mixture resembles a thick batter. Beat for about 100 strokes to form long strands of gluten. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature over night.

Dough
Scrape poolish into bowl of bread machine. Add remaining ingredients in the order listed. Program the machine for the dough setting and press Start. Examine the dough about half way through the kneading cycle; it should be somewhat tacky, but holding its shape. Adjust the dough's consistency with additional flour or water, as necessary. Allow the machine to complete its cycle.

Turn dough onto floured surface. Divide into two one-pound portions. Fashion each piece into slender loaf to fit 16-inch preforated french bread pan.

Turn on oven for exactly 1 minute 10 seconds. Turn off. Place french bread preforated pan on large cookie sheet and place in warm oven until doubled in size, about 2 hours. Remove from oven.

Preheat oven to 375° F. Place an iron skillet on bottom shelf for about 5 minutes. Pour 2 cups of boiling water onto hot skillet to produce steam in oven. Place bread in oven and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Yield: 2 16-inch loaves.