A Loaf of Bread and Thou

Jean Regan's Bread

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1/3 to ½ cup sugar, 1 heaping tablespoon tough salt or 1 level tablespoon ordinary salt, 1/3 cup shortening, and 2 cups boiling water. Let the mixture cool to lukewarm.

Into a I-cup measure put ¼ cup lukewarm water, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 2 packages dry yeast, and let the yeast bubble until it reaches the top of the cup. Add the yeast to the mixture in the bowl, then add 2 well-beaten eggs and stir. Add 4 cups unsifted white flour and stir the dough until smooth. Add another 4 cups flour and work the dough until the flour is incorporated. Cover the bowl with a light plastic cover and place it in the refrigerator.

After 3 hours take the dough from the refrigerator and cut it into three parts. Rub the hands with vegetable shortening, and work each piece of dough in the hands, squeezing out the air. Shape the pieces of dough and place them, smooth side up, in 3 unbuttered and unwashed tin bread pans. Cover the loaves and let them stand in a warm place (near a radiator or a sunny window) for about 1 ½ hours, or until the centers of the loaves rise above the edges of the pans.

Place the loaves in a moderate oven (350° F.) and immediately reduce the heat to moderately slow (325° F.). Bake the loaves for about 25 minutes, or until they come out of the pans easily. Cover a wire grill with a towel, remove the loaves from the pans, and lay them on their sides on the towel. Cover them and let them cool.

While Bread

Sprinkle I package dry yeast over 1 cup lukewarm water in a large mixing bowl, warmed by rinsing with hot water, and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until the yeast is dissolved. Place 2 ½ teaspoons salt in a measuring cup and add enough sugar to make ¼ cup. Warm 6 tablespoons butter to room temperature and place the butter and sugar and salt near the stove until they are needed.

Scald 1 cup milk, remove the saucepan from the heat, and stir in the butter until it is melted Add the salt and sugar and stir until they are dissolved. Cool the milk mixture to lukewarm and Stir it into the yeast. Stir in 3 cups sifted white flour, 1 cup at a time, beating the batter well with a wooden spoon until it is smooth. Beat in another 3 cups sifted white flour, one by one, to obtain a rather sticky dough. As it becomes more difficult to stir with the spoon, use a beating motion. Or the dough may be mixed with the cupped hand until all the flour is absorbed.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured pastry board, scraping out any dough that sticks to the bowl. (It is not necessary to flour the hands, even though the dough is sticky.) Work the dough with the cupped hands, drawing it toward you from the board and pushing it back. As soon as it can he handled easily, knead it by drawing it toward you and pressing it down and away from you with the heels of the hands. Bread dough may be roughly treated. The dough should be kneaded about 7 to 9 minutes, or until it is glossy and bubbles appear under the surface.

Warm the mixing bowl again by rinsing it, place in it 1 teaspoon soft or melted butter, and add the dough to the bowl, rolling it around a few times to fully coat the surface with the butter. Cover the bowl with a warm towel and let it stand in a warm place while the dough rises. Ideally, the temperature should be 82° F., and the dough free from drafts or changes of temperature. Let the dough stand undisturbed until it doubles in bulk, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. The warmer the place, the more rapidly it will rise, but if the place is too warm and the dough rises too rapidly, the quality of the bread will suffer.

Turn out the dough onto the lightly floured pastry board again and punch it down to push out the air. Punching down means folding in the sides of the dough toward the center and working it back to its original bulk. Cover the dough with the warm towel and let it rest for 15 minutes. Butter thoroughly 2 standard-sized bread pans (9“ by 5” by 3”). Cut the dough in half, work the halves until they are smooth, and form the dough into loaves a little shorter than the pans. Place the loaves in the pans, scam side down.

Cover the loaves with a warm towel and let them rise again until the centers are higher than the edges of the pans, about 1 hour. Place the loaves in the center of the center rack of a hot oven (400° F.) and bake them for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to moderate (350° F.) and bake the loaves for 35 to 40 minutes longer, or until they shrink a little from the sides of the pans and sound hollow when they are tapped.