French Bread (Home Style)

"The classic French Bread. There are many like it. This comes from "The 'New' Antoinette Pope School Cookbook" copyrighted 1948, 1953 by Antoinette and Francois Pope. Posting for safekeeping as this book is falling apart. There will be more selections posted in the future. The book is stamped on the side, Not For Resale haha. I used this recipe to make bread for a work function potluck, and it got rave reviews. I highly recommend that anyone wishing to make authentic home style French Bread familiarize themselves with all steps before beginning the recipe. It Will Work if all steps are followed. No shortcuts here!"
 
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Ready In:
4hrs
Ingredients:
9
Yields:
3 loaves

ingredients

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directions

  • Combine dissolved yeast, sugar, salt, melted shortening, milk and water in a medium-size bowl.
  • Add 3 cups of flour, a little at a time, and beat until smooth.
  • Now add beaten egg whites and blend well.
  • Add rest of flour, a little at a time, and beat until smooth. When dough is too stiff to beat, turn it out onto a floured pastry cloth and knead gently about 2 minutes, adding only enough more flour to prevent excess sticking, *keeping dough as soft as possible*. Place in a greased bowl, brush top with melted shortening, cover, and let rise until doubled. This will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
  • After it rises the first time, knead it again for about 1/2 minute. Place it again in the greased bowl and let double - about 30 minutes.
  • After second rising, turn dough out onto a floured pastry cloth and divide it into 3 uniform pieces. Roll each piece into a rectangle that measures about 8x16 inches, and shape it like a jelly roll, pinch ends well. Place it open end down on a 12x18-inch baking sheet that has been thickly sprinkled with white corn meal from a shaker. Place all 3 loaves on 1 baking sheet, leaving equal spaces between them.
  • With a sharp knife make diagonal cuts in tops of loaves, about 1/8 inch deep, spacing them 2 inches apart. Let loaves stand in room temperature about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Do not force near heat; best temperature is about 70 to 75°F (When cuts in bread are almost flat, bread is ready to be baked.)
  • Bake at 325°F about 1 hour and 15 minutes. After 1 hour, look at bread, and if it is brown, shut off heat and allow it to remain in oven a few minutes longer to make crust more crisp.
  • After 30 minutes, loaves may be brushed several times during baking time with slightly beaten egg white combined with 1 teaspoon water. This will impart an attractive glaze to loaves, but is not necessary.
  • To recrisp French bread after it has been stored in a covered container, reheat it about 10 minutes in a 400°F oven.
  • This is copied from the aged textbook (I am tempted to just call it an aged Culinary Tome) verbatim.

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