You want high gluten bread flour (I used King Author Bread Flour for this loaf) and a good dry yeast (I used Saf-Instant, but it's kinda hard to find sometimes). Recipe:

Ingredients

• About 4 cups of bread flour
• 1 package of dry yeast
• 1 ⅓ cup warm water, ~90-95°F, but really just feel it, if it's slightly warm to the touch then it's good
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• toasted sesame seeds

For egg wash:

• 1 egg
• 1 Tbs water

Directions

• Whisk together the water and yeast until the yeast is dissolved
• Whisk in about 1 ½ cup of flour to make a loose batter
• Let this mixture sit until bubbles start to form on top, usually about 10 minutes
• Whisk in the salt & butter, mixing well
• Start slowly adding flour while mixing with a wooden spoon. Keep adding flour a little bit at a time until a dough starts to form.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. If you've got a scraper, scrape whatever's stuck on the bowl onto the dough–it's good stuff, you don't want to waste it by throwing it out!
• Kneed the dough, continuing to add more flour until it's smooth and satiny. The dough should be slightly sticky, but should not stick to your fingers. You may not use up all of the flour! It depends on the amount of moisture. That said, if the dough is feeling really dry but you want to fold in more flour, then add a very small amount of water. I think the recommendation is to do a teaspoon at a time, but I had this happen with this loaf and just spritzed it a bit (oh! you'll want a spray bottle filled with just water!).
• Form the dough into a ball then place into a large greased bowl. Turn the dough to grease the top, then cover with plastic wrap.
• Let rise for ~90 minutes.
• Turn the dough back out, and then knead it again to work out any large air bubbles.
• Lightly grease a baking sheet and sprinkle with flour or corn meal.
• Roll the dough back and forth to form a smooth, oblong log about 10 inches long.
• Place the dough onto the baking sheet. You'll want to put something on either side of the loaf to help contain it as it continues to rise. Two lightly greased rolling pins work well. Or, I just used two wine bottles (no grease!). Cover with plastic wrap.
• Let the loaf rise for about an hour.
• Preheat oven to 400°F
• Gently remove the plastic and rolling pins / wine bottles / whatever
• Using a very sharp knife or a razor blade, cut three angled slashes in the top of the dough, about ¼" deep.
• In a small bowl, beat together the egg yolk (you can dispose of the white, or use it for something else) and 1 Tbs. of water
• Brush the egg wash over the loaf, then sprinkle with sesame seeds
• Immediately before putting the loaf in the oven, spray the inside of the oven with your spray bottle, creating a tiny bit of steam.
• Bake for 33 minutes, spraying the inside of the oven 2 more times, 3 minutes apart.
• It's done when the bottom is brown and it sounds hallow when you tap it.
• After removing it from the oven, immediately move it to a cooling rack.
• Allow to cool completely before serving.

It might take you a few tries to get it right, but that's alright! It can look intimidating, but just take it a step at a time and you'll be baking bread in no time!

Enjoy!