The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book Part 10

Featherpuff bread is light and rich-tasting, so it makes good rolls. If you are fond of breakfasting on cinnamon rolls, we suggest using this dough for making them, not only because they will be light and tasty, but because this recipe is protein and calcium-rich, and rolls from it make a more complete meal than those from a plainer dough.

When shaping the bread, roll one loaf's worth into a big rectangle. Brush with softened b.u.t.ter and sprinkle generously with brown sugar and cinnamon-chopped walnuts, too, and a few raisins if you like. Roll up jelly-roll fas.h.i.+on, sealing the end well. Now, using a loop of strong thread or light cord, cut the roll into slices as ill.u.s.trated. Arrange comfortably close together on a greased baking pan, and let rise in a warm place until very soft. Bake along with the bread (or slightly warmer) until nicely brown-about 20 minutes for smallish, thin rolls, or 40 minutes for big puffy ones.

The richness of the roll, how many coils the spiral has, how big it is, and how many you get-all these depend on your whim. If you roll the dough very thin and use lots of goodies, you can rapidly approach candy. Big tender light rolls with a single graceful swirl of cinnamon may be just as appealing at the breakfast table, and a whole lot less reprehensible nutritionally.

Cottage Herb Loaf - cup minced onion (60 ml) - 2 tablespoons oil (30 ml) - 2 teaspoons active dry yeast ( oz or 7 g) - cup warm water (120 ml) - 1 cup cottage cheese (235 ml) - cup finely chopped parsley (120 ml) - 1 tablespoon dill weed - 1 tablespoons honey (22 ml) - 1 egg, beaten - 1 teaspoons salt (8.25 g) - 2 cups whole wheat flour (375 g) Just a handful of dough makes a big round herbed dinner loaf, at once light and nouris.h.i.+ng.

Saute onion in oil.

Dissolve yeast in water, and set it aside.

Add cottage cheese, parsley, and dill weed to onions and heat gently to warm them. Stir together cottage cheese mixture, honey, and egg.

Mix salt with 2 cups flour; add yeast and cottage cheese mixture. Turn dough onto floured surface and knead until supple. Cover and let rise in a very warm place, about 90F. The dough will come up very quickly-in about 45 minutes!-so don't let it get away from you. Check by poking the center with your wet finger. If the hole you make remains without filling in at all, press the dough flat, shape it into a smooth round once more, and let rise again as before. The second rise will take about 25 minutes. Apply the same test to see if it is ready to shape.

Deflate the dough and shape it once more into a smooth round. Press seam side down into a greased round ca.s.serole or pie dish, and let it rise in the same warm place until it is high and spongy-feeling. The last rise will take only about 15 minutes if the dough is warm enough.

Meantime, preheat oven to 350F. Brush top of loaf with oil; bake for 45 minutes. Cool, if you have time, then cut into wedges and serve.

Vienna Bread - 2 teaspoons active dry yeast ( oz or 7 g) - cup warm water (120 ml) - 6 cups whole wheat flour, finely ground (900 g) - 2 teaspoons salt (14 g) - 1 egg - 2 tablespoons oil (30 ml) - 1 tablespoon honey (15 ml) - 2 to 2 cups warm water (475 to 530 ml) Vienna put itself emphatically on the breadmaking map around the turn of the century with its remarkable white bread. Our version is an equally remarkable whole wheat bread, simple in its ingredients, delicate yet flavorful, tender and bright; a surprisingly good keeper. To look authentic, the loaf should be a pointy, ruddy version of the cla.s.sic French bread shape. Vienna bread requires steaming to give it a good crust, because the flavor otherwise is so delicate as to be underwhelming.

Dissolve the yeast in water. Combine the flour and salt. Mix the egg, oil, honey, and 2 cups of water. Mix the liquids and the yeast into a well in the flour. The dough should be just a little stiffer than usual; add more of the water if you need too, though, by wetting your hands as you knead the dough very well. Allow 20 minutes by hand.

Let rise in a warm place (80F) about an hour and a quarter. Deflate and let rise again, about 45 minutes or so; test as usual by poking the dough about inch deep with your wet finger: it is ready for the next step if the hole does not fill in at all. Be sure that you take up the dough each time before it has reached the point where the circ.u.mference of the finger-poke sighs-this will protect the flavor of your bread.

Divide the dough into two or three pieces. Shape rounds, and let them rest until they regain their suppleness. Dust a baking sheet generously with cornmeal. Shape the loaves as for French bread, except make the ends more pointy and the middle plumper.

Place loaves side by side on the dusted baking sheet; let them rise again warm, without humidity. Toward the end of the proofing period, preheat the oven very well, to 450F. Slash the loaves just before you place them in the hot oven; make long, parallel horizontal slashes-as deep as an inch if the dough seems very bouncy and resilient.

It is essential to steam the bread liberally during the first 15 minutes of baking, until the crust shows good color (see this page this page): then reduce the oven temperature to 325F. (Leave the oven door open briefly if necessary to get the heat down.) Bake until done, up to half an hour more. This bread is best when it is not overbaked, so be vigilant. How fat you make the loaves, how much they rise, and how close they are together on the baking sheet all influence the amount of time the bread takes to bake.

Try using the dough from this recipe for the Kaiser rolls that follow. They are good eating, and fun to make.

Kaiser Rolls These spectacular rolls are, admittedly, a little tricky to shape, but even though our own early experiments were far from bakery-perfect, there was never a sc.r.a.p left over. When properly made, the rolls are very beautiful; properly made or not, they are large, tender-crusty, delicious. The recipe makes 16 rolls.

Prepare the dough for the Vienna Bread recipe, using 2 cups of water so that the dough is soft. Follow the directions for mixing and rising.

Divide the risen dough into four pieces, shaping them into smooth rounds. Cover them snugly. When the first one relaxes, press it flat with your palms and cut it into four equal pieces. Round each one of these into a ball.

To shape the rolls, wait until each small ball is slightly relaxed. Flatten it with your hand to about inch thick. Gently press the thumb of the left hand into the center of the disc. Use the left index finger to lift up a section of the dough, bringing it over the thumb. With the side of the right hand, hit the dough against your thumb firmly. Repeat this action clockwise five times, but don't hit the last section, just twist it and press it into the center of the roll where your thumb was. All this may sound unlikely, but it is most satisfying to figure out. When you complete the last roll, you'll wish you had more dough.

As you finish shaping each one, dip the flower side into a dish of poppy seeds and place it upside down on a greased baking sheet, with enough room so that the rolls won't touch each other when they rise. You can get about 8 on a 12 18 baking sheet. Allow them a good hour to proof, in a warm, dry place-then pick up each one and very gently turn it right side up on the baking sheet. Pop them into a very hot oven: for best results, preheat the oven to 450F and steam it (see 18 baking sheet. Allow them a good hour to proof, in a warm, dry place-then pick up each one and very gently turn it right side up on the baking sheet. Pop them into a very hot oven: for best results, preheat the oven to 450F and steam it (see this page this page) for 10 to 15 minutes. Turn the oven down and bake the rolls for about 15 minutes more at 350F. They are done when crispy brown all over. If possible, bake them near the top of the oven. If you bake on the bottom rack, put an extra baking sheet under the pan on the bottom so that the rolls don't burn.

*For the highest bread, do not use raw honey in a long fermentation like this one. Use pasteurized honey, or else a refined sweetener like brown sugar.

With the Grains Here converge two opposing schools of breadbaking. On the one hand is the crowd who will add nearly anything-certainly any leftover cereal-to bread dough: the motive can be earnest Thrift; sometimes it's a kind of unabashed bravado. These good folks are genuinely fond of their inevitably hearty loaves, and even when some of their friends don't share their enthusiasm, it turns out all right because a bread that has a lot of cooked grain in it will not stale quickly.

In the second school, rather more b.u.t.ton-down, are those who admire the featherlight commercial "honey-wheatberry" bread and long for a recipe that will enable them to make such loaves In Their Own Kitchens: they want to reproduce the pale, airy, sweet, tender loaves, luscious with soft nuggets of Real Wheat strewn throughout. Alas, careful reading of the fine print on the wrapper reveals that the first (hence, the most plentiful) ingredient is white flour-cunningly called "wheat" flour, but not not "whole wheat." Very few home bakers would be able to replicate that bread with whole wheat flour; now you are one of them, should you be so inclined. "whole wheat." Very few home bakers would be able to replicate that bread with whole wheat flour; now you are one of them, should you be so inclined.

Whichever school you favor, and even if you are not ready to join either, this section will be useful if you are interested in including whole and cracked grains, and grains other than wheat, in your breads. Generally, these are not recipes for beginners: quirks and pitfalls lurk here, which is why we have gone into such detail on the grains.

WHEAT.

Here, we are talking about wheat that isn't ground into flour-about whole berries or berries that have been cracked, and about bulgur wheat, a special kind of cracked wheat that is particularly good for baking.

Cracked Wheat You can make nubbly, pretty bread with ordinary cracked wheat, but it takes some doing. For one thing, it is the same color as the dough, and so tends to be invisible. (We suggest a remedy for that in the recipe.) The other problem with cracked wheat is that it is often too finely ground. When you buy it, or if you grind your own, try to get a crack that is nearly half of a wheat berry-very large. Most we've seen on store shelves is really sort of a wheat meal, and when added to bread it does nothing more than make it heavy and crumbly. If you mill your own, it is worth sifting out the smaller particles. You can make nubbly, pretty bread with ordinary cracked wheat, but it takes some doing. For one thing, it is the same color as the dough, and so tends to be invisible. (We suggest a remedy for that in the recipe.) The other problem with cracked wheat is that it is often too finely ground. When you buy it, or if you grind your own, try to get a crack that is nearly half of a wheat berry-very large. Most we've seen on store shelves is really sort of a wheat meal, and when added to bread it does nothing more than make it heavy and crumbly. If you mill your own, it is worth sifting out the smaller particles.

Bulgur wheat is the sort of cracked wheat we like best for adding to bread. Use the coa.r.s.est size. It keeps its shape with n.o.ble persistence, and is different enough in color to show up against wheat dough. Natural foods stores often sell bulgur in bulk, or you may find it on the supermarket shelf. is the sort of cracked wheat we like best for adding to bread. Use the coa.r.s.est size. It keeps its shape with n.o.ble persistence, and is different enough in color to show up against wheat dough. Natural foods stores often sell bulgur in bulk, or you may find it on the supermarket shelf.

You can soften grain for using in your dough in several ways. Probably the easiest is to rinse a cup of grain and stir in a cup of boiling water, letting it stand, covered, until the water is absorbed. If you use more water, as you would if you were cooking the wheat for normal eating, it will be too fluffy and tender to keep its shape in the dough.

Wheat berries from red wheat, sprouted two or three days, make a very good show in a whole wheat loaf. Knead them, about half a cupful per loaf, into any bouncy plain bread dough. Slightly less wonderful but plenty good are unsprouted whole berries cooked chewy-tender, kneaded into the dough in the same proportion. from red wheat, sprouted two or three days, make a very good show in a whole wheat loaf. Knead them, about half a cupful per loaf, into any bouncy plain bread dough. Slightly less wonderful but plenty good are unsprouted whole berries cooked chewy-tender, kneaded into the dough in the same proportion.

OATS.

Oats give whole wheat a subtle sweetness and a little extra chew. The flavor of oats blends well with wheat, mellowing it and making it taste richer. You can use rolled oats uncooked in bread but it won't be any lighter for their presence. On the other hand, if you use porridge made from rolled oats to replace most of the liquid in bread dough, the result is an exceptionally light and chewy-tender loaf.

Steel-cut oats or oat groats must be cooked. Bread using their porridge makes a slightly heavier, moister loaf, but one with outstanding eating quality that keeps very well.

For a very pretty crust on dark breads especially, or on any bread with oats inside, coat the loaf with rolled oats after shaping. Either spread the oats on the table and roll the loaf in them, or just sprinkle them in the greased pan before you put the bread into it; for the top, brush with milk or water and dust with oats just before putting the bread in the oven. Hearth loaves can be baked on a rolled-oat-strewn baking sheet, but strew with a light hand: too thick a layer will keep the loaf from cooking on the bottom.

BARLEY.

Ordinary barley has tough, sharp hulls that adhere so tightly that the grain must be milled many times-"pearled"-to get them off; the germ and the useful bran layers are lost in the milling, needless to say, along with the indigestible hull. We can't recommend using pearl barley. But recently a naturally hull-less barley has become available in some places. We are told it's an ancient grain, probably originally from Tibet. If you can get it, you will enjoy making porridge from it, and using the porridge in your bread, as we describe in the oatmeal section.

CORN.

Nearly everybody likes the sweet flavor of corn and its sunny color. In yeasted bread, corn poses unique problems and takes a little extra care to achieve a light loaf.

The most cornmeal you can just plunk into a normal twoloaf whole wheat bread recipe is about cup, subst.i.tuted for that much wheat flour. The bread may be a little dense, but it should be tasty. It is much better to cook the corn first, and then add it to well-kneaded dough made with finely ground high gluten flour. Even then, corn softens the wheat gluten and you may begin to think you will have to pour pour the dough into the pan-but if you follow the method described in the Anadama recipe, you can have light, delicious bread in a very corny mood. the dough into the pan-but if you follow the method described in the Anadama recipe, you can have light, delicious bread in a very corny mood.

Generally choose cornmeal that is as coa.r.s.ely ground as possible. Your loaves will be lighter and the corn will show up better.

Cook the cornmeal before you add it to the kneaded dough, using as little water as possible. If your recipe calls for oil, stir it into the cooled corn mush before adding it to the dough.

A final word on corn: once ground, it turns rancid rapidly. This is a phenomenon of recent years, a side effect of breeding corn for very high-yield crops. Maybe in the near future breeders will be able to correct the problem, but in the meantime virtually all the cornmeal-degermed or not-and other corn products that are sold commercially are a little rancid, a little bitter. Cornmeal that is really fresh-homeground, most likely, and stored (in the refrigerator) for less than five days-is sweet sweet sweet, an astonis.h.i.+ng difference no one can fail to celebrate.

MILLET.

Millet sold for human consumption is hulled, and its tiny spheres are unusually clean. It can be added just as is to bread dough, and will give crunch (but not tooth-breaking crunch) and a pretty dotted-swiss look to the slice. The flavor is very subtle, but for visual and textural effect, one-fourth cup of millet per loaf makes a good show. To bring out its delicate flavor, rinse the grain and heat it dry (stirring all the while) in a big heavy pan until it just begins to brown.

For less crunch, cook the millet in water. You can add a cup per loaf or more; if the grain is well cooked you won't see it in the slice. The loaf will very likely be a little heavy, but it will be moist and will have millet's suns.h.i.+ny warmth of flavor. For a very good millet bread, add cooked millet as part of the water measure in a light plain recipe like b.u.t.termilk Bread.

BUCKWHEAT GROATS.

Kasha, as the Russians call it, or whole groats have every advantage in breadmaking over the flour ground from them. The flour is heavy; even a little bit makes bread grayish and dense. The groats, however, properly prepared, can flavor the loaf without weighing it down.

Rinse the grain and heat and stir in a heavy pan until lightly toasted and fragrant. Mixing a beaten egg into a cup of groats before toasting is traditional and does help to keep the grains whole and separate; if you don't have a nonstick pan, a little oil helps prevent sticking. After toasting, you can either cool the groats and add them as is to the dry ingredients for the recipe, or knead them in later. Or you can soften them a little, and instead of white sparkling crunchies in the slice, you will have soft taupe nubbets. To soften, pour boiling water over the hot toasted grain. Use water to equal only half half the measure of the groats: stir it in, and cover tightly until the water is absorbed and the grain cool. If you are tempted to use leftover kasha (cooked groats, that is) or to cook the grain in the amount of water for normal eating, it will turn mushy and disappear into the dough. This does not make for light bread. Raisins and sunflower seeds are good with buckwheat. the measure of the groats: stir it in, and cover tightly until the water is absorbed and the grain cool. If you are tempted to use leftover kasha (cooked groats, that is) or to cook the grain in the amount of water for normal eating, it will turn mushy and disappear into the dough. This does not make for light bread. Raisins and sunflower seeds are good with buckwheat.

RICE.

It is sometimes suggested that leftover rice (brown rice, of course) be added to wheat dough. Add one cup to a plain, light loaf's worth of dough, and you will have a chewy, rather flattasting bread with rice grains showing throughout. A more interesting approach is to use rice in one of the "naturally fermented" breads. Their fuller flavor and greater density accommodate rice's subtlety very well. See this page this page.

RYE & TRITICALE.

Either of these is good to use like wheat, cracked or whole, as described 2 pages back. Both are also useful ground into flour, as we will see in the pages that follow.

SOY GRITS.

Soy grits-the largest crack possible-make a very successful cracked "grain" in bread, with a nutritional plus. Be sure to precook them, even the toasted ones, for 15 minutes or more in an equal quant.i.ty of boiling water; otherwise, they can rip up your dough. About cup of cooked grits per loaf is a reasonable amount. For the best flavor, sweeter and not so beany, choose untoasted grits.

MIXED GRAIN CEREALS IN BREAD.

There is a large natural foods firm in these parts that sells a nine-grain bread; for a commercially produced loaf, it is excellent. We buy and enjoy their nine-grain cereal, and so decided to try to make up our own version of the bread. For starters, we just added leftover cooked cereal to dough, as we have done successfully with oatmeal-but what a disaster!

The cereal contains wheat, rye, barley, triticale, corn, oats, millet, flax, and soy grits-an innocent list, but somewhere in there was dynamite for the dough. (Another time we put the uncooked cereal, which is quite finely ground, into rolls. Added along with some sauteed onions and Parmesan cheese to well-kneaded dough made with strong coa.r.s.e flour, it made big light soft rough-hewn "Raggedy Rolls": they they were great.) But why tell you all this? I think it is by way of saying that someone else's mix of grains may not be just what you would want, and there are more reliable ways of coming up with a good mixed-grain bread than adding a cereal. were great.) But why tell you all this? I think it is by way of saying that someone else's mix of grains may not be just what you would want, and there are more reliable ways of coming up with a good mixed-grain bread than adding a cereal.*

One simple and effective way is just to add half a cup of sprouted grains or the same amount of whole or coa.r.s.ely coa.r.s.ely cracked grains (steamed chewy-tender, drained and cooled) to the well-kneaded, elastic dough for any normal, high-rising whole wheat loaf. There will be flavor and nubble aplenty, and the bread will look pretty too. cracked grains (steamed chewy-tender, drained and cooled) to the well-kneaded, elastic dough for any normal, high-rising whole wheat loaf. There will be flavor and nubble aplenty, and the bread will look pretty too.

Using Non-Wheat Flours Another sort of mixed-grain bread simply includes a little of each of several kinds of grain flours along with the wheat. If you want to try this you can keep your loaf light by following the example of commercial bakeries: add only a tiny amount of each non-wheat flour. A very good kneader using super high-gluten wheat flour could include as much as cup total total of non-wheat flours as part of the 6 cups in a normal plain bread recipe. Even then, remember, you have reduced your margin for error, so be careful to knead and ferment the dough just right. of non-wheat flours as part of the 6 cups in a normal plain bread recipe. Even then, remember, you have reduced your margin for error, so be careful to knead and ferment the dough just right.

One consideration here is that most other grains are blander-tasting than wheat. When you include them in whole wheat bread, they generally do little more than make the loaf heavier and less flavorful. Three exceptions: Rye flour, added in amounts up to cup per loaf in place of an equal quant.i.ty of wheat flour, enriches the flavor of the bread and makes a moister, heartier loaf. Expect the dough to be a little bit on the sticky side. If you want the bread to taste taste like rye, add a spoonful of caraway seeds. Breads with a larger proportion of rye flour succeed best with a different mixing technique; see the Rye Breads section for much more about all this. like rye, add a spoonful of caraway seeds. Breads with a larger proportion of rye flour succeed best with a different mixing technique; see the Rye Breads section for much more about all this.

Buckwheat flour is strong-flavored and very heavy. Use it in small quant.i.ties- to cup per loaf will make a hefty buckwheat flavor. The loaf will have a warm fragrance and the characteristic blue-gray color. Sunflower seeds and raisins both complement buckwheat's rather strident flavor beautifully. (For a very tasty recipe including buckwheat flour check the Saltless Bread section. Add 2 teaspoons of salt to the flours listed in the recipe, if you aren't going salt-free.) is strong-flavored and very heavy. Use it in small quant.i.ties- to cup per loaf will make a hefty buckwheat flavor. The loaf will have a warm fragrance and the characteristic blue-gray color. Sunflower seeds and raisins both complement buckwheat's rather strident flavor beautifully. (For a very tasty recipe including buckwheat flour check the Saltless Bread section. Add 2 teaspoons of salt to the flours listed in the recipe, if you aren't going salt-free.) Triticale flour (trit'-ih- (trit'-ih-kay'-lee) is a newcomer among grains. A cross between wheat and rye, it was developed for hardiness and high protein content. Unfortunately, depending on where the grain was grown, and which of hundreds of strains it came from, it may have considerable gluten content or very little. We have made high, sweet-flavored loaves with 100 percent triticale flour, and then with another batch of flour have not been able to get much rise at all. If you want to try, we suggest beginning with half wheat and half triticale, to see how it goes. Be careful not to overknead. We suggest doubling the honey in the recipe. If you are buying grain to grind yourself, plump grains will be high in starch, slim ones higher in protein, as a rule.

With the exception of these three, we find that chunky grains (either sprouts or coa.r.s.ely cracked, lightly cooked cereals) work better than flours. Perhaps because the dough can support a larger amount of grain than of flour, the grains give more flavor and character to the bread; its appearance and keeping quality benefit as well.

NOTE: Here's a problem we haven't solved: the grains on the outside of the crust will bake into hard nuggets. We have never found a way around this, though we have tried. Chew circ.u.mspectly, and let us know if you come up with a solution.

Cracked Wheat Breads Cracked Wheat Bread I is the nearest thing to the popular commercial honey-wheatberry bread. It is light, pale, pretty, delicious-far better in every way than its store-bought counterpart. Cracked Wheat Bread II is a very different loaf: hefty, tender, with a rich full flavor that comes from the happy combination of wheat and dates. The wheat sings out because the bread has no dairy products to mellow its flavor; dates, with their natural fruity sugar, sweeten the loaf.

Cracked Wheat Bread I - cup coa.r.s.e cracked wheat (55 g) - OR - cup bulgur wheat (128 g) - 2 tablespoons mola.s.ses (30 ml) - water to cover, cup - 2 teaspoons active dry yeast ( oz or 7 g) - cup warm water (120 ml) - 2 tablespoons honey (30 ml) - cup boiling water (175 ml) - 1 cup cold b.u.t.termilk (300 ml) - 5 cups finely ground high-gluten whole wheat flour (830 g) - 2 teaspoons salt (14 g) - 2 tablespoons b.u.t.ter (28 g) TO USE CRACKED WHEAT.

The night before, mix the wheat, mola.s.ses, and cool water. The water should cover the grain when you start; add more if necessary. Let stand in a cool place until morning.

TO USE BULGUR WHEAT.

Just before you dissolve the yeast and begin to mix the dough, boil cup water. Mix the bulgur, mola.s.ses, and water in a heavy saucepan. Bring them to a boil, stirring, and cover, removing from heat. Set aside.

Dissolve the yeast in the cup warm water.

Dissolve the honey in the hot water and add the b.u.t.termilk.

Stir the flour and salt together in a mixing bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the b.u.t.termilk mixture and the yeast, combining them to make a dough. Knead partway, for about 10 minutes only, then let rise in a warm place about an hour and a half. Test to see whether it is ready to deflate: wet your finger and poke the center of the dough about inch deep. If the hole does not fill in at all or if the dough sighs, go on to the next step. Otherwise, allow a little more time.

Drain any excess water from the wheat. Spread the b.u.t.ter on the kneading surface and turn the dough out onto it, flattening the dough to a large oblong. Spread the grain out on the dough and fold them together. Knead the grain and the b.u.t.ter into the dough, and keep working them together until the dough is silky and l.u.s.trous, stretchy and even-except for the brown grains, of course. This will take about 10 minutes. Let the dough rise again as before; this time it will take about half as long.

As soon as the dough tests ready, turn it out onto the tabletop and press to deflate. Cut in half and round each part. Cover and allow to relax very well-this may take 15 minutes unless your dough is quite soft. Use flour on the board when you shape the loaves, and be very gentle to keep the gluten film from tearing. This dough makes very fine hearth loaves, splendid buns or rolls, and big spectacular pan loaves (two loaves, 8 4 pans). 4 pans).

The shaped dough should rise quite high before you put it into the preheated oven. It does best in a place that is warm and not too humid. Have the oven ready a little early, and if the tops of the loaves begin to rip from the stress of the wheat, get them into the oven. Usually they won't rip if you have kneaded well, but whether they do or not, their crusts will be pretty if you slash them. If there is a rip, slash so as to make it look intentional-if no rip, three diagonal cuts made with the knife held at an angle let the loaf rise maximally in the oven and look its spiffy best, too. Hearth loaves take as well to this pattern as the panned kind.

Put the loaves into a preheated oven as soon as you finish slas.h.i.+ng them. Start the oven at 400F; after 10 minutes turn the heat down to 325F and bake for almost an hour. When the loaves come out of the oven, brush the tops with b.u.t.ter.

Cracked Wheat Bread II This bread is wonderful made with a roughly stone-ground high-gluten wheat, but any good strong flour will do the trick. It is not a beginner's loaf: there are lots of challenges to the strength of the dough here, and though the bread can be high and light under skilled hands, novices might expect a smaller loaf than otherwise-it's delicious anyhow for sure.

Stir the wheat into the boiling water and let stand, covered, while you measure the other ingredients. The grain should cool to lukewarm by the time you are ready to add it to the dough.

- cup large-crack bulgur wheat (112 g) - cup boiling water (350 ml) - cup pitted dates (135 g) - cup hot water (175 ml) - cup cold water (175 ml) - 2 tablespoons lemon juice (30 ml) - 2 tablespoons oil (30 ml) (optional) - 2 teaspoons active dry yeast ( oz or 7 g) - cup warm water (120 ml) - 5 cups whole wheat flour (830 g) - 2 teaspoons salt (14 g) Simmer the dates in cup boiling water for about ten minutes, stirring to be sure they don't stick. Usually they lose their shape while they simmer; if yours don't, mash 'em. Add cup cold water and cool to lukewarm; add the lemon juice and oil, and stir in the bulgur wheat.