The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book Part 12

An elegant way to use fruit in bread is to let it provide both the liquid and the sweetener, producing a flavorful and long-keeping loaf. Stew and puree any very sweet fruit. Use the fruit and its broth, blended together and cooled, in place of part of the liquid in any fairly basic recipe. With applesauce, the fruit can make up all the liquid in the dough, except what is required to dissolve the yeast, of course. The bread will be light and will keep well; but in spite of the quant.i.ty of fruit, it won't be distinctly appley in flavor. (The applesauce should be reasonably sweet, please.) You can also use apple juice in your dough as sweetening liquid. One cup of apple juice is about as sweet as 1 tablespoon of honey: it makes a loaf that rises well and has good color, though the keeping quality of the bread is not enhanced as it would be by the use of whole fruit.

Peaches, pears, prunes-any sweet fruit simmered and pureed can sweeten bread for you. Often you won't need quite so much as with apple. For example, used in this way, cup per loaf of raisins does the trick; dates, a little less. But don't expect their flavors to sing out solo so much as to form part of a duet with the heartiness of the whole grain. (It is bread, after all, not cake or jam!) Apricots, sour plums, fresh pineapple, tart grapes-fruits that aren't sweet themselves obviously can't be called on to sweeten your loaf. Any fruit that is very acid, even if it is cooked, will damage the yeast.

CITRUS PEEL.

Orange and lemon peel give a happy zip to the things that they're put into, but we can't really bring ourselves to tell you to use them unless unless you are lucky enough to get them unsprayed, or at least undyed. There really is no way to wash the pesticides or chemical dye off the skins. For your consideration, here is what we have been able to find out about the chemicals used in California, where the regulations are more stringent than in most other places. Of course, the fruit in your own market may come from California or from other citrus-growing areas at different times of year. Try to find out where the fruit comes from and don't use the peel if there's a chance it was dyed. you are lucky enough to get them unsprayed, or at least undyed. There really is no way to wash the pesticides or chemical dye off the skins. For your consideration, here is what we have been able to find out about the chemicals used in California, where the regulations are more stringent than in most other places. Of course, the fruit in your own market may come from California or from other citrus-growing areas at different times of year. Try to find out where the fruit comes from and don't use the peel if there's a chance it was dyed.

In California it is illegal to dye fruit, and dyed fruit that is brought in from other states has to be labeled "color added." The labeling used to have to be on the orange, but now it can be just on the box, a problem when the fruit is not sold to the consumer from its carton. The dye used, citrus red number 2, has caused cancer in animals. Efforts to ban its use have failed because "n.o.body eats orange peels"! (Do we even want it in our compost pile?) With regard to pesticides, the law prohibits spraying orange trees for a specified number of days before the fruit is picked, and the pesticides on them are supposed to have degraded by that time. The law is for the safety of the pickers, as well as the consumer.

When the fruit is packed, smelly sheets of paper impregnated with fungicides are put into the carton. Currently, the fungicides used are diphenyl-o-phenylphenate and thiabendazole. The first is often incorporated in a wax and used to coat a whole panoply of fruits and vegetables, from apples to bell peppers. There have been tests on citrus peel itself, and the levels of the chemical have been well below FDA tolerance levels. O-phenylphenate, by the way, is the active ingredient in household disinfectants like Lysol, and is officially thought to be one of the safer poisons around (if there is such a thing.) Thiabendazole, the second antifungal in the citrus papers, turns out to be what you give your cow or dog or, (if you run the zoo), your giraffe to rid it of intestinal worms. It has been extensively tested on mammals, to say the least, and is considered very safe.

If you think that no poison is safe and you can't get untreated citrus peel, none of the recipes here will fail if the peel is omitted.

Nuts

Whether your style is Old-fas.h.i.+oned or Health Food, gourmet or homegrown, nuts probably rate pretty high on the list of goodies for making meals and treats more appealing. They contain substantial amounts of unsaturated fat, and so become rancid before long, if they are exposed to air or warmth. Keep nuts in the sh.e.l.l in a cool place, protected from damp; without sh.e.l.ls, they need to be in the refrigerator, airtight; chopped-use them as soon as you can. Freezing is most effective, though it does destroy their natural vitamin E.

PECANS.

In bread, so it seems to me, pecans rate the very highest marks for their unmistakable sweet sparkle. They keep their individuality, don't become soggy, flavor the whole loaf, don't weigh it down, and are universally appreciated. But who these days can afford them? If you can, just add to cup chopped pecans to any plain or raisiny loaf. Terrific.

WALNUTS.

Walnuts are a pretty good second, but since rather than sweet they are pleasantly bitter, they require extra sweetener to balance their flavor. (An unsweetened walnut loaf is vehemently nonsweet, but good in its own way.) The bitterness of walnuts can be reduced if the nuts are toasted slightly and cooled before using. Toasting helps prevent them from getting soft in yeasted doughs as the raw ones will, when they are there from beginning to end; but toasted or not, they do tend to color the dough a sort of lavender-gray, unless you add them just before shaping. Walnuts provide a natural flavor balance to sweet fruits, particularly raisins, and they are outstanding with oatmeal.

ALMONDS.

Last year a friend gave us some tiny almonds that had been grown on an organic farm: they had three times the flavor of larger almonds from the store, and when toasted, made a terrifically flavorful addition to bread. Normal almonds, even if they are toasted-and it helps-don't always have enough oomph to make much of a show in a loaf of bread. If you think your almonds are pretty blah and don't consider it cheating, you can spike them with a teaspoonful of almond extract-(but you can spike soy grits with almond extract and get nearly the same effect, with some other advantages).

CASHEWS, BRAZILS, & FILBERTS.

Cashews are even subtler than almonds in yeasted breads, but not brazil nuts. If you add a half-cup of chopped brazils to any loaf, the flavor is unmistakable, and the nuts keep their crunch to the last-it is a crispy crunch, almost more like raw celery than like a nut, but the flavor is there, singing out. Filberts too keep their splendid pungent sweetness, and give a lot of flavor. They are a fine choice to use along with fruits for really fancy fare. Toast them lightly.

PEANUTS.

If we can dignify peanuts by considering them in the nut section (they are of course really beans-nothing wrong with beans, mind you), we find them pretty awful in breads, quite rubbery even when toasted and added at the last, before shaping the loaf. A very peanutty flavored loaf can be achieved, however, by including cup or more of peanut b.u.t.ter in the dough, and the bread's texture will be very good (that is a lot of fat). Put the chopped peanuts on the crust.

PINE NUTS.

Last, should you come into an independent fortune-or have your own pinon trees and lots lots of time-pine nuts are wonderful. Try the pine nut pinwheels from of time-pine nuts are wonderful. Try the pine nut pinwheels from Laurel's Kitchen. Laurel's Kitchen. We haven't included a recipe in this book because since We haven't included a recipe in this book because since Laurel's Kitchen Laurel's Kitchen, alas, the price of pine nuts has shot into the empyrean.

Seeds Some people think of Seeds as a little weird and health-foody, but when it comes down to it, they are old favorites ready for renewed interest: sesame, poppy, sunflower seeds, caraway, fennel, anise. Since it is impossible to generalize, let's look at them as the individuals they are: SESAME.

In this book we always mean the unhulled variety called "natural" or "brown" in the store. The kind you buy at the supermarket in tiny packages for a minor fortune are hulled and bleached. See if you can't find the unhulled ones sold in bulk at a more reasonable price: not surprisingly, those hulls are loaded with essential minerals and B vitamins too.

Sesame seeds have a delightful warm, deep brown flavor familiar to nearly everyone. Their size and shape make them easy to use on and in bread-to embellish a crust, usually all you need to do is roll the dough in the seeds as you shape it. For the very best flavor, toast them lightly beforehand in the oven or on the stove top in a heavy pan (no oil required). As they toast, they pop, so use a deep pan like a Dutch oven on top of the stove if you don't want them all over the place. Stir for even toasting.

Much of the flavor of any bread comes from its crust, so when bakers want bagels or rolls flavored with sesame, onion, garlic, poppy, or caraway, they use plain dough and put the flavoring on the crust. It permeates! This is true with loaves as well as rolls, though since there is proportionately less crust, the effect is subtler. For a nicely sesame flavor, all that is necessary is seeds on the crust. Sesame enthusiasts who want more emphatic flavor may want to use fresh unrefined sesame oil when mixing up the bread.

You can add toasted seeds to the dough, too, though it won't make the bread any lighter. Ground toasted seeds add less flavor than you would expect, and definitely make a denser loaf; similarly with tahini, the flavorful sesame b.u.t.ter available in every natural foods store nowadays, often in raw, toasted, and in-between versions.

When you buy sesame seeds, try to get them American-grown. For years ours came from Mexico, but more and more often they were seriously dirty-full of sticks, rocks, and mouse droppings. Since that time we have also learned that controls on the use of pesticides outside the U.S. are nonexistent, with American corporations exporting to Latin America tons of toxic agricultural chemicals that are banned here. As we go to print, we cannot really recommend buying any food product from south of the border. Things improve when people are concerned enough; I would like to think that the situation will soon change completely.

POPPY SEEDS.

Poppy seeds are usually more for sparkle than for flavor, though if used in sufficient quant.i.ty they certainly do have their own distinct taste. With poppy seeds, very little makes a wonderful show: just 1 or 2 tablespoons on a loaf's worth will make an unmistakably poppy-seeded bread; a tablespoon sprinkled on a baking pan turns ordinary rolls into something special.

Don't get white poppy seeds by accident-people will think it is sand or, worse, mold. The black ones are called blue when you order them in bulk.

SUNFLOWER SEEDS.

Sunflower seeds are so nutritious, so nutty, so easy to grow right here at home. Why don't we love them more? I think it is because for years, when you visited any natural foods restaurant, you could count on finding the poor innocent seeds sprinkled in and on everything, often as not having been subst.i.tuted for more expensive "real" nuts; and there'd always be a few, raw and soggy, in the bottom of the bowl when you finished your salad.

Fortunately, our children are untouched by these experiences, and they are crazy about them. Furthermore, almost anyone enjoys them when their flavor sings along with raisins and buckwheat-natural complements, since the little seeds are favorites in Russia, where kasha originated.

Unlike sesame, sunflower seeds do not have much natural antioxidant and so become rancid quickly once the seed itself is broken. For this reason they are not so practical to grind for b.u.t.ter or meal. Sort through the seeds you buy to remove any that are discolored or moldy or whose sh.e.l.ls have stuck to them-these make poor eating and may well be responsible for some of the Enemies of the Seed. Sunseeds are eminently nutritious, full of vitamins and minerals and fine quality protein.

Toasted sunflower seeds are good in or on breads; about cup is plenty for including in the loaf. They are at their nuttiest when toasted; the flavor of the raw ones is milder, sweeter. Sunflower seeds are good not only with buckwheat but with oatmeal, and with any dried fruit.

CARAWAY, FENNEL & ANISE.

Caraway, fennel, and anise, three cousins, are sometimes confused one with another.

Anise is the strongest of the lot, on the sweet side with its licoricey fullness of flavor. Fennel is more herby (it provides the characteristic flavor of pepperoni sausage-or soy-sage-and authentic Italian tomato sauces). With a bright pungent flavor in a lighter mood, fennel brings just the right sweet piquancy to make Lemony-Fennelly Bread extra-special. Caraway is the most familiar of the three, putting in its appearance in rye breads, on bagels, and in some English sweet buns. Most of all though, caraway has come to mean rye rye-so much so that if you make a whole wheat bread and put caraway in it, several people will a.s.sume it is rye; and conversely, very few will recognize rye bread without the seeds.

The three can be exchanged one for the other when someone has a strong antipathy to one, but the results will be a little different. How to say? Fennel is treble, caraway tenor, and anise ba.s.s. Or fennel is chartreuse, caraway purple, and anise dark gray in flavor.

c.u.mIN.

c.u.min is actually a member in this family too, more exotic perhaps, certainly less familiar in the United States as a seed than as the ground spice that gives character to Mexican foods. The whole seeds look very much like caraway, but c.u.min is not like anything else. Added to bread, it has a roguish red chili flavor much loved by some. Use with caution-the first time, anyhow.

Deluxe Raisin Bread - 1 cup raisins (145 g) - 1 cups water (355 ml) - 2 teaspoons active dry yeast ( oz or 7 g) - cup warm water (120 ml) - cup oil (60 ml) - 2 tablespoons honey (30 ml) - 1 egg, beaten slightly - OR - cup water (60 ml) - 5 cups finely ground whole wheat bread flour (790 g) - 2 teaspoons salt (14 g) - cup chopped walnuts, (90 g) (optional) Deluxe Raisin is one of our earliest recipes, and though others go in and out of vogue, this one has never fallen out of favor at all. It is an utterly dependable, delicious light bread, just sweet enough. It behaves just as you hope it will in the toaster or in the lunchbox.

Rinse the raisins to remove any dirt. Cover them with the 1 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce flame and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain, reserving the liquid, and set the raisins aside.

Add cold water to the liquid from the raisins to bring it to 1 cups again. Let it cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve the yeast in cup warm water.

Mix the raisin water with the oil, honey and the egg.

Measure the flour and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour the liquid ingredients into it. Stir from the center outward to form a smooth batter, then fold and stir the rest of the flour into the liquid. Check to see if the dough needs more water or flour and add as necessary. Turn the dough out onto the table and knead until elastic. Don't be stingy with the kneading: even with the extra weight of the fruit, this bread can be exceedingly light. Stop before you would ordinarily consider the dough perfect, though, especially if you have been kneading with mechanical help; otherwise the next step can be too much.

Flatten the kneaded dough out on the tabletop and distribute the raisins and nuts, if used, on the top. Roll up and gently knead in the fruit. This takes doing, but eventually they will all be worked in.

Cover the dough and place it in a warm, draft-free place to rise. It will take from 1 to 2 hours to rise fully; test by making a -inch hole in the dough with a wet fingertip: if the hole fills in slightly, give more time; if it remains, or remains and the dough sighs, deflate and let rise again, which will take about an hour.

Divide the dough and shape it for loaves. Of course, with the raisins poking through, it is not possible to keep a perfect gluten film, but do the best you can. This is a light, high-rising dough and will overcome the sweet little obstacles very nicely. Remove the raisins that pop out of the finished loaf, though, because they can burn in the oven and make the pan hard to clean. Sprinkle the loaves with cinnamon if you like.

Place the shaped bread in a warm, humid place to rise. It should double in an hour or less-check it after half an hour.

Bake at 325 to 350F for 45 minutes to an hour-highrising loaves will take the least time. Let the bread cool before slicing or you may find your airy loaf has become a misshapen pancake!

Since this is a great gifting bread, here are a few ways to make it fancier: Bake hearth-style in a pie tin.

Put a s.h.i.+ne on the crust, either with an egg wash or by brus.h.i.+ng with b.u.t.ter after the loaf comes out of the oven.

Use the dough to make round dinner rolls in a baking pan or in m.u.f.fin tins.

A Few Words About Giving Bread

No one need be told that a hot loaf of bread fresh from the oven makes a wonderful present, both for giving and for receiving. If the loaf has to wait a day or even more, choose bread that keeps especially well, and store it carefully. If possible, you could refresh it by wrapping in a damp towel and warming it briefly before you hand it over. We keep a supply of new, clean paper bags for wrapping fresh gift bread, because if a hot loaf is put in plastic, the bread will "sweat" and be soggy, or worse, moldy, when the otherwise lucky receiver goes to eat it.

Fruited Loaves - 1 cup chopped dried apricots (130 g) - cup pitted, chopped prunes (112 g) - 2 teaspoons active dry yeast ( oz or 7 g) - cup warm water (120 ml) - 5 cups whole wheat flour (830 g) - 1 tablespoon salt (16.5 g) grated peel of one lemon - 2 cups liquid-include prune and apricot broth (590 ml) - 2 tablespoons honey (30 ml) - cup toasted, chopped almonds (71 g) - 2 tablespoons b.u.t.ter (28 g) - OR - cup oil (60 ml) A very light bread, exceptionally tasty. The combination of nuts and fruit here is quite special and harmonious. The bread keeps well-though not of course for weeks like a traditional fruitcake! Because the little nubbets of apricot and prune are part of the charm of this bread, be sure to keep the fruit firm as described.

Prepare the fruit and set aside.

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.

Measure the flour, salt, and lemon peel into a bowl. Stir lightly and make a well in the center.

If you stewed the fruit, measure the liquid and add the honey plus water to make a lukewarm 2 cups. Add the oil now, if used.

Pour the liquid mixture into the well in the flour and stir them together from the center to make dough the consistency of pancake batter in the middle of the flour. Now add the yeast and continue to stir and fold until all the flour is incorporated. The object here is to buffer the acidity of the fruit juice with flour before exposing the yeast to it.

Knead until the dough is smooth and well-developed. Toward the end of the kneading, after about 15 minutes, smear the b.u.t.ter on the tabletop in the French manner and work it into the dough. Add the fruit and nuts little by little until the dough is uniform, with the bits of fruit and nuts throughout.

Form the dough into a ball and place it smooth side up in the bowl. Cover and keep in a warm, draft-free place. After about an hour and a half, gently poke the center of the dough about inch deep with your wet finger. If the hole doesn't fill in at all or if the dough sighs, it is ready for the next step. Press flat, form into a smooth round, and let the dough rise once more as before. The second rising will take about half as much time as the first.

Press the dough flat and divide in two. Round it and let it rest until relaxed, then deflate and shape into loaves. Place in greased 8 4 loaf pans or round again to make hearth-style loaves on a baking sheet or in pie tins. Let the loaves rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough slowly returns a gently made fingerprint. If you did your job on the kneading table, and all has gone well, the loaves will rise exceptionally high. Bake at 325F for about 50 to 60 minutes. 4 loaf pans or round again to make hearth-style loaves on a baking sheet or in pie tins. Let the loaves rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough slowly returns a gently made fingerprint. If you did your job on the kneading table, and all has gone well, the loaves will rise exceptionally high. Bake at 325F for about 50 to 60 minutes.

For special occasions, brush the finished loaves with b.u.t.ter, or a glaze ( teaspoon cornstarch plus cup cold water and teaspoon honey, simmered five minutes). Glaze the baked loaves and return them to the oven for 1 minute.

The dough makes wonderful rolls. Bake 15 small ones in a 9 13 pan (or 9 large ones in an 8 13 pan (or 9 large ones in an 8 8 pan), using one loaf's worth of dough. 8 pan), using one loaf's worth of dough.

Apricot-Sesame Bread Prepare Whole Wheat Bread, using 3 tablespoons of honey and 3 tablespoons of good, fresh sesame oil per 2 loaves. Knead 1 cup diced apricot pieces into the dough toward the end of the kneading period, or add them when you shape the loaf. Roll the shaped loaves in sesame seeds before putting them in pans. This is a subtle, not-too-sweet loaf, flavorful, light, and chewy.

Deep Dark Date Bread - 2 teaspoons active dry yeast ( oz or 7 g) - 1 cup warm water (235 ml) - 5 cups whole wheat flour (750 g) - 1 tablespoon salt (16.5 g) - cup carob powder (17.5 g) - 2 tablespoons mola.s.ses (30 ml) - 1 to 2 cups water (475 ml) - cup oil (60 ml) - cup chopped dates (90 g) - cup chopped walnuts (60 g) A caky, very sweet-tasting bread even though it has only a little sweetener. No one will guess there is carob in it unless you tell the secret.

When walnuts are three dollars a pound, we make this bread without them, and there have been no complaints. If you put them in, they are at their best if lightly toasted beforehand.

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.

Mix the flour, salt, and carob powder in a big bowl. Mix the mola.s.ses, water, and oil together and add them and the dissolved yeast to the flour mixture to make a soft dough.

Knead until very well developed, springy, and elastic, and then add the dates and walnuts and continue to knead until they are evenly distributed in the dough.

Form the dough into a ball and place it smooth side up in the bowl. Cover and keep in a warm, draft-free place. After about an hour and a half, gently poke the center of the dough about inch deep with your wet finger. If the hole doesn't fill in at all or if the dough sighs, it is ready for the next step. Press flat, form into a smooth round, and let the dough rise once more as before. The second rising will take about half as much time as the first.

Press the dough flat and divide in two. Round it and let it rest until relaxed, then deflate and shape into regular or hearth loaves. Place in greased 8 4 loaf pans or in pie tins or on a baking sheet, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough slowly returns a gently made fingerprint. Bake in a preheated 325F oven for about an hour. 4 loaf pans or in pie tins or on a baking sheet, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough slowly returns a gently made fingerprint. Bake in a preheated 325F oven for about an hour.

Golden Date Bread - 1 cup pitted dates (178 g) - 1 cup water (235 ml) - 2 teaspoons active dry yeast ( oz or 7 g) - cup warm water (120 ml) - 6 cups stone-ground whole wheat flour (900 g) - 2 teaspoons salt (14 g) - 2 tablespoons b.u.t.ter, cool (28 g) - additional water, if required In this loaf, dates are the only sweetener, disappearing into a beautiful fawn-colored slice, soft and medium light, that keeps very well. The happy consumers can't tell you what what is in the bread, but "it's really good!" is in the bread, but "it's really good!"

Simmer the dates in 1 cup water until they are soft. Use cold water to bring the total measure to 3 cups of warm datey goo, and let stand until cool enough not to harm the yeast.

Dissolve the yeast in warm water.

Mix the flour and salt, and add the liquids and yeast to make a soft dough, adjusting with more water as needed. Knead until the dates have nearly disappeared and the dough is soft, smooth, and elastic (about 20 minutes), adding the b.u.t.ter toward the end of the kneading period in cold bits, and working the dough until it is silky and l.u.s.trous.

Form the dough into a ball and place it smooth side up in the bowl. Cover and keep in a warm, draft-free place. After about an hour and a half, gently poke the center of the dough about inch deep with your wet finger. If the hole doesn't fill in at all or if the dough sighs, it is ready for the next step. Press flat, form into a smooth round, and let the dough rise once more as before. The second rising will take about half as much time as the first.

Press the dough flat and divide in two. Round it and let it rest until relaxed, then deflate and shape into loaves. Place in greased 8 4 loaf pans and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough slowly returns a gently made fingerprint. Bake in a preheated 325F oven about an hour. 4 loaf pans and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough slowly returns a gently made fingerprint. Bake in a preheated 325F oven about an hour.

For a very good loaf that is less sweet, reduce the dates to cup.

DATE-SESAME BREAD.

Subst.i.tute cup sesame oil for all of the b.u.t.ter in this recipe, adding it with the liquids. Roll the dough on sesame seeds while shaping, incorporating the seeds into the loaf and onto the crust. Proof and bake as above. Dates are dynamite with sesame, naturally.

Spicy Currant Bread For a pretty and impressive holiday loaf, bake this bread-the whole dough-in an angel food cake tin. Serve with soft cream cheese and ripe pears.

It is is truly delicious bread, but notice that there is quite a lot of bran in it. It would make an especially good gift loaf for someone who uses bran, but truly delicious bread, but notice that there is quite a lot of bran in it. It would make an especially good gift loaf for someone who uses bran, but not not for someone accustomed to a low-fiber diet. for someone accustomed to a low-fiber diet.

We like the allspice, but the bread is also good with cloves, which give it a very distinctive flavor, with a clean nip to it. Or use a blend of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, or simmer a big tablespoonful of minced fresh or crystallized ginger with the currants and apple juice: zippy and wonderful.

If you start the night before, the bran has a chance to soften and absorb water, which makes the bread soft and helps it keep very well. If you find yourself without the time to do it that way, soak the bran as long as is convenient for you. If there is not even time to let the apple juice mixture cool by itself, speed the cooling by putting the bottom of the saucepan in a tub of cold water until lukewarm. Unless you purposely speed it up, (this page), this is not a fast rising bread, but it rises high.

The night (or several hours) before: rinse the currants to remove any dirt, cover them with the apple juice in a saucepan and simmer together for five minutes. Drain the currants and measure the juice: add water to restore the measure to 2 cups. Stir in the bran and spice. Cover and set aside in a cool place. Note that if you soak the bran overnight, it takes up more liquid than if you soak it a shorter time. The dough will therefore require more added water because the bran won't give that liquid back to the dough.