Bread Machine (127 page)

When the baking cycle ends, immediately remove the bread from the pan and place it on a rack. Let cool to room temperature before slicing.

1
¹/
₂-POUND LOAF

1 cup (for 14-ounce mix) or 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (for 1-pound mix) fat-free milk

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon almond extract

One 14-ounce or 1-pound box white bread machine mix

¹/
₂cup chopped slivered blanched almonds

¹/
₃cup currants

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

2 teaspoons gluten

1 yeast packet (included in mix)

SAVORY VEGETABLE AND FRUIT BREADS

W
e are certainly used to vegetables in soup or as a side dish for dinner, but in baked bread? I remember W the first time I had a vegetable in bread—it was zucchini bread, a quick bread. I couldn’t believe a vegetable could take on such a different character. The vegetable lent not only a wonderful flavor to the bread, but also added a very special kind of moisture to it. From then on, I began to make all sorts of quick breads with carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin, and corn. The first yeast bread I ever made with vegetables was one that called for potatoes. Then I made a recipe from my favorite British food writer, Jane Grigson, that paired raw onions with walnuts. It was fantastic. A trip to Berkeley to Narsai David’s bakery found me staring at a loaf made with grated raw potatoes and beets. Pink bread! beets. Pink bread!

From then on, I began to see the edible stems, roots, fruits, and leaves that we call vegetables—things like tomatoes, pumpkin, winter squash, parsnips, spinach, and garlic—as dominant ingredients in yeast breads rather than strictly as toppings or fillings, as for pizza or ravioli. The vegetables lend their characteristic flavors, along with a full palate of muted colors. Yeast breads that contain vegetables and sweet fruits carry the aura of being extra healthy by including optimum nourishment in a loaf. Fruit, often thought of as a sweet bread ingredient, complements savory breads, too.

While this may seem to us like nouvelle cuisine, bakers have been fortifying breads with their garden produce, especially tubers and bulbs, since man was a hunter-gatherer. The Egyptians were creative bakers and loved to put onion, the lily of the Nile, in their breads. Small cakes of pounded cereal, onion, and poppy seeds have been found in archaeological digs at the Swiss lakeside dwellings. The combination of such a variety of products we get from the earth blend together to make good breads. If you try some of these recipes, your baking repertoire will expand considerably.

BLACK OLIVE BREAD

T
his is a rustic bread that is studded with chunks of black olives. It will have a different character depending on what type of olive you use: canned California black olives are the mildest; Greek Kalamata, soft-fleshed and strong-flavored; intense jet-black Moroccan blacks; or purple-black Alfonsos from Chile. (One of my recipe testers tried using different varieties in the loaf. She thought she favored a combination of green and black olives, until she moved on to green olives stuffed with garlic.) Just remember to pit the olives first, or the bread will be full of surprises! Drain the olives well on paper toweling before adding them, or you will have to add a bit more flour to soak up the brine. This bread is made on the French Bread cycle to give it three full rises.

1
¹/
₂-POUND LOAF

1
¹/
₈cups fat-free milk

¹/
₄cup olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

2
¹/
₂cups bread flour

¹/
₂cup rye flour

1 tablespoon plus
1 teaspoon gluten

¹/
₂teaspoon salt

2
¹/
₄teaspoons SAF yeast or 2
³/
₄teaspoons bread machine yeast

1 full cup pitted black olive pieces

2-POUND LOAF

1
¹/
₃cups fat-free milk

¹/
₃cup olive oil

1
¹/
₂tablespoons honey

3
¹/
₄cups bread flour

³/
₄cup rye flour

1 tablespoon plus
2 teaspoons gluten

³/
₄teaspoon salt

2
¹/
₂teaspoons SAF yeast or 1 tablespoon bread machine yeast

1
¹/
₄full cups pitted black olive pieces

Place the ingredients, except the olives, in the pan according to the order in the manufacturer’s instructions. Set crust on medium and program for the French Bread cycle; press Start. (This recipe is not suitable for use with the Delay Timer.) The dough ball will be slightly sticky. Halfway through Knead 2, open the machine and add the olives. If you like big chunks of olives, press Pause at the beginning of Rise 1 instead, remove the dough, pat it into a rectangle, and sprinkle with the olives. Roll up the dough and gently knead a few times to distribute the olives. Return the dough ball to the machine and press Start to resume the rising.

When the baking cycle ends, immediately remove the bread from the pan and place it on a rack. Let cool to room temperature before slicing.

PAIN D’AIL

I
n Provençe, garlic is said to be the poor man’s, or everyman’s, spice. Simply a garlic French bread, this is a good dinner bread. Store fresh garlic bulbs in a cool, dry place; they do not need to be refrigerated. Use a garlic press to pulverize the cloves for this recipe, or crush the cloves with the flat side of a knife blade to release their wonderful flavor. If you get the odor of garlic on your fingers, you can remove it by rubbing them on a stainless steel spoon under running water. The metal neutralizes the garlic like magic. You can also use roasted garlic in this bread, if you wish; the flavor will be more subdued. This bread is good served with roasted meats and rice casseroles.