Thebreadrecipe

TRADITIONAL ITALIAN BREAD

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, salt, yeast, and warm water.
• Stir in the softened butter or margarine, whichever using.
• Sift in one cup of flour at a time until you have a dough that can be easily kneaded by hand without sticking to your hands.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 minutes, adding more flour if necessary, until the dough is soft and not sticky.
• Lightly grease a medium-sized bowl with olive oil and flip dough over so that the top is also greased.
• Cover with a clean kitchen towel or wrap paper and let rise for 30 minutes in a warm, draft-free place.
• Grease a large baking sheet and sprinkle it with coarse cornmeal, if desired.
• Remove the dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured table, and divide into two equal parts.
• Roll each dough half into an approximately 15 x 9-inch rectangle.
• Roll the dough tightly along the 15-inch side, pinch the seams, and taper the ends of each loaf with your hands at a 45-degree angle.
• Place the loaves on the prepared baking sheet and cover. Let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425 F. Make 3 deep diagonal slashes on each loaf.
• Bake the bread for 20 minutes.
• Lightly beat the egg white and cold water in a small bowl to create an egg wash . This step is key for a traditional Italian bread.
• Remove the loaves from the oven and brush with the egg wash.
• Return the loaves to the oven for another 5 minutes.
• Serve bread warm or cold and enjoy.

BASIC HOMEMADE BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar in warm water; let stand until bubbles form on surface. Whisk together remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, salt and 3 cups flour. Stir oil into yeast mixture; pour into flour mixture and beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 8-10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 1-1/2 to 2 hours., Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide dough in half. Shape each into a loaf. Place in 2 greased 9x5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, 1 to 1-1/2 hours., Bake at 375° until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped or has reached an internal temperature of 200°, 30-35 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

THE BREAD (REE DRUMMOND/ PIONEER WOMAN)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Spread one stick of softened butter on each half of the loaf (That's one stick per half loaf. Yes, you read that right. The idea here is that every speck of the surface of the bread needs to be coated.).
• Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until butter is melted and starting to soak into the bread.
• Crank on broiler and broil bread for 3 to 5 minutes, watching the whole time. Remove when butter has started to brown and blacken. Don't under-broil it! The flavor really kicks in when the butter's color changes (The goal here is to broil the bread to the point that the butter becomes very dark brown and, in just a few areas, begins to burn. When that happens, the flavor shows up. If you don't take it to the next level, it will just be buttered, warm bread. Which is fine, and all...but it's not The Bread).
• Slice into strips and serve immediately (When I serve this, I slice it on a cutting board into relatively thin (because it's so rich) strips).