Ingredients
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
1 cup milk, hot
1/4 cup butter
5 cup enriched flour, up to 6 cups
Directions
Soften yeast in 1/4 cup of lukewarm water for a few minutes, then
stir until blended; measure sugar, salt and butter into mixing bowl;
pour milk over and stir, mashing the butter against the side of the
bowl until it is broken into small pieces; add remaining water and
cool to lukewarm; stir in 1 cup flour; add yeast and 2 more cups
flour; beat with a wooden spoon until batter is smooth and elastic;
stir in 1 1/2 cups more flour, then with floured fingers, work in
enough additional flour to make a soft dough that doesn't stick to
your fingers; turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead
for 2 minutes, about 100 strokes; shape dough into a ball and put it
in a bowl rubbed with butter, cover with a towel let dough rise until
double in size, about 1 1/2 hours; punch down and turn it onto a
floured board; cut in half and shape each half into a small ball;
shape each ball into a loaf and put in a greased bread pan; cover
pans with a towel and let rise until double in size, about 1 hour;
bake in a preheat- ed 350F oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until golden
brown; cool on a cake rack. Chuck in Pok Sunday 02:37 pm 12/19
C.OZBURN on GEnie
Posted on PRODIGY December 1993, formatted by Elaine Radis, BGMB90B
on P*; E.RADIS on GEnie
Servings: 1 loaf
Perfect Italian White Bread Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bread; Breads; Italian
The History of Recipes
Historians have traced the existance of recipes way back into distant history, in truth as far into history as the Egypt of the Pharoahs, and maybe further still. In practice though, mostly, these early cookbooks were just very simple pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for preparing food.
Fascinatingly, the most ancient recipe discovered so far, according to historians are some ancient tablets in Sumerian 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 anyone who tried it feel wonderful and blissful. During Roman times around 25BC a roman called Apicius assembled a number of documents which described recipes cooked by wealthy roman citizens. In his scrolls, Apicius tells us how the meals of wealthy Romans were split into appetizers, main course and desserts, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Aspicius recounts how the early Romans were skilled in the use of a good variety of aromatic flavours, including a few that are still present in modern kitchens for example basil, mint and dill. In the fifteenth century, knights returning from the crusades brought back many new foods and spices from Arab cuisine, including basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new tastes created a torrent in books on cooking, the majority of which still exist in private cookery archives. Over the following few hundred years, the upper-class families of the West tried to offer the most extravagent banquests, and because of this the best cooks and their collection of recipes were greatly in demand. Notwithstanding that, it was during the nineteenth century the formal cooking and cookery books really came of age. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, spent years to collecting, trying out, and recording recipes of the day. By the arrival of the 20th century, cookery publications were starting to become popular as a result of higher levels of literacy, people having more leisure time and having more money. |
We hope you enjoy this Perfect Italian White Bread recipe.
