Ingredients
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup sourdough starter
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
5 cup all-purpose flour (or 6)
1 water for tops of loaves
Directions
Warm a large bowl. Pour 1 1/2 cups warm water into warmed bowl.
Sprinkle yeast over water. Set aside to soften 5 minutes. Stir in
sourdough starter, sugar and salt. Beat in 3 cups flour until
blended. Cover with a cloth and set in a warm place free from drafts.
Let rise 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled in size. Lightly grease a
large baking sheet; set aside. Stir down dough. Stir in enough
remaining flour to make a medium stiff dough. Turn out onto a
lightly floured surface. Knead dough 8 to 10 minutes or until smooth
and elastic. Add more flour if necessary. Shape kneaded dough into
two 10x3 1/2" loaves. Pull out ends of each to make them narrower
than center of loaf. Or shape into 2 round loaves. Place on prepared
baking sheet. Cover with a cloth and set in a warm place free from
drafts. Let rise 1 to 2 hours or until almost doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 400F. Pour water 1" deep into a 12x 71/2" baking
pan. Place in bottom of preheating oven. Use a pastry brush to brush
tops of loaves with water. Use a very sharp knife to cut diagonal
slashes across tops of loaves. Bake in preheated oven 45 minutes or
until crust is golden brown and loaves sound hollow when tapped with
your fingers. After 30 minutes, if loaves are golden brown, cover
with a tent of foil to prevent further browning. Remove from baking
sheet. Cool on a rack. Makes 2 loaves.
Servings: 4 servings
San Francisco-Style French Bread Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bread; Breads; French
The History of Recipes
It is possible to follow the history of `recipes` way back into distant history, at least as far back as early Egypt, and maybe further still. Interesting though that maybe, sadly, these ancient records were just simple hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for preparing meals.
In an interesting twist, the oldest recipe in existence, according to Professor Solomon Katz, is a series of tablets in the Sumerian language which recount the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making those who drank it feel wonderful. Later on, in The time of the romans 25BC a man called Apicius assembled a number of scripts describing recipes enjoyed by wealthy roman citizens. In his works, he recounts how the roman meals were split into starters, main meal and afters, something we still use today. Additionally, he describes how the early Romans made use of a wide range of herbs, including a few that will be familiar to modern cooks such as basil, mint and parsley. Over the succeeding few centuries, the powerful families of Wesstern Europe competed with each other to serve up the best banquets, and as a consequence, chefs and their recipes were greatly in demand. However, it was during the 19th century that cooking and recipe collections really came of age. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, dedicated the best years of their lives to assembling, verifying, and publishing the recipes that were being prepared for the better households. When we get to the 20th century, recipe publications were in high demand, due to more people being able to read, increased leisure time and being a little richer. |
We hope you enjoy this San Francisco Style French Bread recipe.
