War Bread

This bread comes from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads. According to Clayton this bread had been "a farmhouse loaf in New England kitchens for more than 150 years." This makes me think it was a bread from before the Civil War. At any rate I quite like it!! I like the hit of cornmeal in the bread. I'm actually thinking I'll try it again in the future but with less white flour.
 

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 tablespoon butter

⅓ cup molasses

1 tablespoon salt

3 cups boiling water

1 package dry yeast

5 to 6 cups bread or all-purpose flour, approximately

1. In a large bowl combine the rolled oats, cornmeal, whole wheat, shortening, molasses, and salt.
2. Pour in the boiling water, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool to 120°-130°.
3. Sprinkle the yeast on the batter, and blend.
4. Stir in the white flour, ½ cup at a time, first with the spoon and then by hand. The dough will be somewhat heavy and dense and will not have the elasticity of white dough. Nevertheless, the dough will form a shaggy mass that cleans the sides of the bowl.
5. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead with the rhythmic motion of push-turn-fold until the dough has become smooth. Sprinkle on more flour if the dough continues to stick to the work surface or your fingertips.
6. Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover with a towel.
7. Put in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.
8. Punch down the dough and knead for 30 seconds to press out the bubbles.
9. Divide the dough into 3 pieces.
10. Shape into balls, and let them rest on the work surface for 3 to 4 minutes.
11. Form each loaf by pressing a piece of dough into a flat oval, roughly the length of the baking pan.
12. Fold each oval in half, pinch the seam tightly to seal, tuck under the ends, and place in the pan, seam down.
13. Cover the loaves with a towel and leave until the center of the dough has risen to an inch above the edge of the pan, 50 minutes.
14. Preheat the oven to 350° 20 minutes before baking.
15. Bake the loaves in the oven until they are nicely browned and test done, about 1 hour.
16. Remove the bread from the oven and turn from the pans. Place on a metal rack to cool.