In a large bowl, combine the water, starter, and 1 cup of the flour, mixing until smooth. Stir in the salt, sugar, and yeast; then add the additional 1 cup of flour.Stir until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, adding only enough additional flour as necessary; a slack (sticky) dough makes a light loaf.

Knead the dough for about 7 minutes in a stand mixer; or 8 to 10 minutes by hand, on a lightly greased work surface. You may also knead the dough using the dough cycle on your bread machine. Once its finished kneading, turn the dough into an oiled bowl, cover the bowl, and let the dough rise in a warm location until doubled in bulk, about 90 minutes.

Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into two pieces for the baguettes. Shape each piece into a 16-inch long loaf, and place the loaves, at least 4-inches apart, on parchment-lined baking sheets, or in lightly greased baguette pans.If you're using baguette pans, make the loaves 15-inches long. Make three diagonal slashes in each loaf with a sharp knife or razor blade.

Cover the loaves with lightly greased plastic wrap, and let them rise in a warm location for 1-½ to 2 hours, or until they're nice and puffy. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 425°F.

If desired, gently brush the loaves with egg yolk glaze. Bake the baguettes for about 25 minutes, or until they're a rich golden brown. Remove the loaves from the oven. Turn off the oven, crack it open a few inches, and return the loaves to the cooling oven, without their pans. Letting the loaves cool right in the turned-off oven helps preserve their crunchy crust.

Yield: 2 loaves.

Post Script: The sourdough baguettes were so good that I decided to make sourdough rolls using the above recipe. Also, I used my little bread machine to knead the dough. The bread machine worked great! I scaled the dough into 2-ounce portions and baked for 20 minutes or until golden brown. I ended up with 13 rolls that taste just as good as the baguettes.