1. Combine dissolved yeast, sugar, salt, melted shortening, milk and water in a medium-size bowl. 2. Add 3 cups of flour, a little at a time, and beat until smooth. 3. Now add beaten egg whites and blend well. 4. 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. 5. 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. 6. 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. 7. 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.) 8. 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. 9. 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. 10. To recrisp French bread after it has been stored in a covered container, reheat it about 10 minutes in a 400°F oven. 11. This is copied from the aged textbook (I am tempted to just call it an aged Culinary Tome) verbatim. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nutrition
Ingredients
