Place into a large steel mixing bowel 3 cups of flour, the suger, and yeast.
Mix
together. Soften the stick of butter. Do not melt the butter. Beat 1 egg separately.
Heat the water to 120 - 130 F. Do not exceed 130 F. Add the water to the mixture in
the bowel and mix well. Now add the butter.
Mix until the butter is
completely
dissolved in the mix. Now add the egg. Note that I mix all of this by hand. I do not
know what kind of results you will get from an electric mixer.
Preheat your oven to 170 F. Place a small cup of water in the oven somewhere.
Now add between 3 to 4 cups of flour in 1/2 cup increments. Do so until you have a
nice dough. It should be somewhat sticky, but should no longer stick to the bowel.
Now remove the dough and start kneeding on a lightly floured hard surface for 8 - 10
minutes. Be careful to not use too much flour during this process, or the bread will be
heavy and doughy. After kneeding is complete, clean the steel mixing bowel. Rub butter
in the bowel. Place the dough into the bowel and flip it around a couple of times until
the dough's exterior surface is completely covered with butter. Cover the dough with a
light cloth. Place the bowel into the oven. Leave the oven heat on for 15 minutes and
then turn off without opening the oven door. The dough should complete the first rise in
about 30 minutes and should be 2 1/2 times the original size.
After the first rising is complete, prepare your bread dishes by rubbing them completely with
butter. Push your hand into the center of the dough and kneed lightly. Separate the dough and
place into the bread dishes, flipping the dough as before to coat the exterior with butter.
Cover with a paper towel and put in a warm place (70 to 80 F.) Let rise twice in size.
After the second rising is complete, separate an egg yoke from an egg white. Discard the egg
white. Beat the egg yoke with 1 teaspoon of milk. Brush a light coat of the egg yoke on the
surface of each loaf and sprinkel the fennel seed on top according to taste.
Note that I use glass bread dishes. This results in a crispy exterior. If yours are metal,
you may have to ajust the cooking time. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Be sure that the oven is
in conventional mode. After preheated, place the bread into the oven for 15 minutes. Then
place the oven into convection mode at 350 F. Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes. Remove
and cool bread on bread racks.