2 envelopes dry yeast
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
2 1/2 cup warm water (105 - 115 f)
7 cup bread flour
1 egg white beaten with 1 tsp water (, glaze)
Directions
Makes 4 loaves
Sprinkle yeast, sugar and salt over water in large bowl; let stand
until dissolved. Stir to blend. Let stand until foamy and proofed,
abut 10 minutes.
Add 5 cups flour to yeast mixture and stir to incorporate. Stir in
another 1 cup flour. Turn dough out onto generously floured surface.
Knead in remaining 1 cup flour. Continue kneading until dough is
very smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
Butter large bowl. Add dough, turning to coat entire surface. Cover
and let rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1
hour.
Punch dough down. Let stand 15 minutes at room temperature.
Generously butter four 18-inch baguette pans. Knead dough 3 to 4
times. Divide evenly into 4 pieces. Roll 1 piece into 7x15-inch
oblong. Roll up as for jelly roll. Set seam side down in 1 prepared
pan. Repeat with remaining pieces. Using razor blade, make three to
four 3/8-inch-deep slashes atop each loaf. Brush each with glaze.
Let stand in warm draft-free area until dough rises to top of pans,
about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 450 F. Bake loaves 15 minutes. Reduce oven
temperature to 350 F. Continue baking until bread sounds hollow when
tapped on bottom, about 30 minutes. Remove from pans. Serve
immediately. (Can be prepared 3 months ahead. Cool completely. Wrap
in foil and freeze. Rewarm in 350 F oven for about 20 minutes.)
Bon Appetit
Servings: 4 servings
New Orleans French Bread Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bread; Breads; French
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It is actually possible to trace the history of written recipes way back into the far past, at least as far back as ancient Egypt, and maybe even further. Interesting though that maybe, in the main part, these early cook books were just primitive pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for preparing food.
The truth of the matter is, the oldest recipe in existence, according to Professor Solomon Katz, is a collection of stone tablets in ancient Sumerian which show the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making drinkers feel wonderful. Moving on, we have two recipe books which date from the 1300s - one book entitled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary called `Curye on Inglish`. Although the titles sound familiar, these two books are unconnected to the indian curry that is familiar to us all today, but instead accounts of the types of food on the menus of the rich and wealthy people of that period. Later, in the 15th century, knights returning from the crusades brought back many spices and herbs from Arab cooking, including spices such as coriander, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new herbs and spices led to a torrent in books on cookery, many of which are kept safe in private libraries. During the following few centuries, the upper-class families of Wesstern Europe competed to offer the most exotic meals, and as a consequence, chefs and their recipes were greatly in demand. Even so, it was during the nineteenth century that cookery and recipe collections became popular. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, dedicated the best years of their lives to assembling, trying out, and recording recipes to help cooks of their time. By the advent of the 1900s, cooking books are in great demand, mostly due to more people being able to read, leisure time and being a little richer. The revolution that is television brings us TV cookery programs and the recipe books that accompanied them. Which pretty much brings us up to date and the internet revolution, permitting everyone to search through massive numbers of recipes just like those on sites such as this. |
We hope you enjoy this New Orleans French Bread recipe.
