The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book Part 11

Dissolve the yeast in the cup warm water.

Stir the flour and salt together, fluffing the flour. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and add the cooled date/wheat liquid and the yeast. Mix them together, and adjust to make a dough that is soft but workable; knead it for about 20 minutes.

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; this will help in the shaping, since the relaxed dough is less likely to tear, which this dough does tend to do. Shape the loaves carefully, forming either round hearth loaves or standard pan loaves. Should the dough tear while you are shaping the loaves, press it back together with wet fingers.

For the best rise, keep the dough in a warm, only slightly humid place. If, when it is ready to go into the oven, you find that it has torn on the top, use a sharp knife to slash the loaf artfully, guided by the tears.

Bake in a preheated oven, 350F, for about 45 minutes or a little longer.

Oatmeal Bread - 1 cups raw old-fashioned rolled oats, - OR - cup raw steel-cut oats (both weigh 106 g)*

- 2 cups boiling water (475 ml) - 1 tablespoon salt (16.5 g)*

- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast ( oz or 7 g) - cup warm water (120 ml) - 3 tablespoons honey (45 ml) - cup oil (60 ml) (optional) - 5 cups finely ground whole wheat bread flour (750 g) Cooked oatmeal makes up the liquid in this recipe, and the result is an outstanding loaf, very different from, and totally superior to, bread made by adding raw oats. When the porridge is made with rolled oats, the bread is light and bright; it has a rich creamy flavor-very subtle, but with great warmth. When you use steel-cut oats instead, the loaves are not so spectacularly high, but the flavor is even better, and the bread has outstanding keeping qualities. Either way you get bread good for toast, good for any kind of sandwich. We consider this one of the best basic breads for everyday eating.

Cook the oatmeal in the water until it begins to thicken; add the salt and set aside for several hours or overnight. If you use leftover oatmeal, bring it to room temperature.

Dissolve the yeast in the cup water.

Mix the honey and oil into the oatmeal, and add it and the yeast to the flour. Even if the dough seems very stiff, don't add more water just yet: the flour will absorb water from the oatmeal very slowly, so the dough softens as you work. Knead the somewhat stiff dough for about ten minutes, and if it still seems stiff then, add water gradually by wetting your hands and kneading until the dough has taken in as much water as it requires to become soft and supple. If you use leftover oatmeal that is fairly thin, you may find that you need to add flour on the board instead of water.

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. Shape it into b.a.l.l.s and let them rest, covered, until very much softer. Shape gently into hearth-style or standard 8x4 pan loaves. Sprinkle a greased baking sheet, pie tins, or loaf pans with rolled oats before placing the shaped loaf on or in them. For a fancy touch, brush the tops of the loaves with warm milk, and then sprinkle with more rolled oats that have been soaked in the warm milk.

Let rise once more in a warm place, and bake about 45 minutes at 350F.

OATMEAL BREAD VARIATIONS.

These are special; they take the basic mellow-creamy oatmeal bread flavor and complement it perfectly, achieving a happy wedding of flavors that is dressy enough for a special occasion or for gifting, but not so flashy that the bread is useless for everyday purposes.

WALNUT-OATMEAL BREAD.

Add about cup chopped walnuts-lightly toasted, if you will-to each loaf. For best results, add them at the time of shaping, because the walnuts give the dough a lavender tint otherwise. (Not to hint that there is anything wrong with lavender bread, of course.) After dividing the dough, roll one loaf's worth at a time into a good-sized rectangle on a lightly floured board. Spread the nuts out on top, and press them down into the surface of the dough. Fold or roll the dough up, aiming to have an even distribution of nuts and a smooth surface on the top when you are through. Let this dough rest, covered, until it relaxes; this will take longer than it would have if the dough had not been exercised by the incorporation of the nuts. Shape into hearth or pan loaves, taking care to press out all the gas and trying to avoid tearing the gluten film. If you like, include finely chopped nuts along with the oats on the crust, a nice touch.

SUNFLOWER-OATMEAL BREAD.

Add 2 to 4 tablespoons toasted sunflower seeds to each loaf just as you would walnuts in the above instructions-or, for a completely different effect, also very good, add the same amount of raw raw seeds to the oatmeal when you put it on to cook. Their flavor is sweet, subtle, and pervasive when the seeds are cooked this way. seeds to the oatmeal when you put it on to cook. Their flavor is sweet, subtle, and pervasive when the seeds are cooked this way.

Barley Bread Subst.i.tute a generous cup of cracked barley for the oat measure. Cook the barley for at least half an hour. Let it stand overnight if possible; if you don't, the bread will be less fine-textured, more like a cracked-grain bread than otherwise, but plenty good, too.

SESAME-BARLEY BREAD.

Subst.i.tute barley malt extract for half the honey measure, and use sesame oil. Roll the loaf in seeds before baking. A dramatically flavorful loaf.

Honeyb.u.t.ter Oat Bread Soft and sweet, with the richness of b.u.t.ter and honey and the mellowness of oats, this is probably a bread for company, though if there are any leftovers, they'll keep for days. You can make pretty, dark-crusted hearth loaves or very fine-textured pan bread.

If you are looking for a very light oat bread, try Oatmeal Bread. This recipe can can make light loaves if your kneading is really good, but that is demanding because the dough is sticky and has to start out extra soft because the oats take in water as the bread rises. We recommend the one-hand-and-a-sc.r.a.per method of kneading for this bread. It is definitely worth the trouble, however. make light loaves if your kneading is really good, but that is demanding because the dough is sticky and has to start out extra soft because the oats take in water as the bread rises. We recommend the one-hand-and-a-sc.r.a.per method of kneading for this bread. It is definitely worth the trouble, however.

Dissolve the yeast in the cup warm water.

- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast ( oz or 7 g) - cup warm water (120 ml) - 5 cups finely ground whole wheat bread flour (750 g) - cup rolled oats (raw) (53 g) - 2 teaspoons salt (14 g) - 1 cups scalded whole fresh milk, cooled to lukewarm (350 ml) - cup yogurt (120 ml) - 5 tablespoons honey (75 ml) - 3 tablespoons cool b.u.t.ter (42 g) Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, and mix the milk, yogurt, and honey in another. Make a well in the dry ingredients, and pour the yeast and the milk mixture into the well. Mix into dough and knead very well, until it is smooth and elastic. Toward the end of the kneading time, incorporate the b.u.t.ter, and knead until all the dough is exceptionally silky. At the beginning of the kneading period this dough will be extremely soft and sticky. Don't succ.u.mb to the temptation to add flour or it will become hard and dry as the oats take in the extra water over the next few hours.

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 either hearth or pan loaves. Sprinkle the greased baking utensil with rolled oats before placing the shaped loaves in or on them. If desired, use the milk and oat topping described in the Oatmeal Bread recipe. Let rise once more in a warm, draft-free place until the dough slowly returns a gently made fingerprint. Bake the loaves in a preheated 325F oven for about one hour, or until done.

Anadama - 1 cup boiling water (235 ml) - 1 cup coa.r.s.ely ground cornmeal (122 g) - 2 teaspoons active dry yeast ( oz or 7 g) - 1 cups warm water (395 ml) - 4 cups finely ground whole wheat bread flour (600 g) - 1 tablespoon salt (16.5 g) - cup mola.s.ses (80 ml) - cup oil (60 ml) We simply can't believe the scurrilous story about the irate backwoodsman and his lazy wife, Anna. This fine combination could never have been born of anger; it is just too good. A sweetly delicious golden bread with a deep brown crust, Anadama keeps well and makes grand toast.

We call for coa.r.s.ely ground cornmeal. If you use finely ground cornmeal you will have a smaller loaf, but a tasty one.

This is a bread we make often; we are inordinately fond of its chewy texture and full, satisfying flavor. Still, this is a demanding recipe, and the instructions are not to be taken lightly unless you want bread that is as dense as it is tasty.

Boil the water in a heavy saucepan and stir in the cornmeal. When the mixture is smooth, cover and cook gently for a few minutes-just until the corn begins to crackle. Remove from the heat and set aside, still covered, to cool slowly. It is a good idea to do this the night before, particularly with the coa.r.s.e cornmeal. If you are using finer cornmeal, you can let it sit for as short a time as 15 minutes, and then spread out on a platter to cool quickly. If you are in doubt, bite a tiny bit of the corn; if it is still hard, give it more time.

When the corn is approaching room temperature, dissolve the yeast in the warm water.

Mix the flour and salt, and add the dissolved yeast. Stir together and then knead the dough, developing it very well but being careful, especially with mechanical help, not to overknead. It will have to be very strong to carry so much corn.

Use a fork or your fingers to stir the mola.s.ses and oil into the corn, working out all the lumps. Press or roll the kneaded wheat dough out on a tabletop, making a large rectangle. Spread the corn mixture onto the dough, and fold or roll it up. Now, with patience, humor, and determination, knead the corn into the dough. It will be a mess for a while but finally a b.u.mpy dough will form. The dough will become softer as the corn begins acting on the gluten of the wheat, but resist the temptation to add more flour at this point, as the dough will stiffen up in the final stages of rising. Amazing stuff.

Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place (80F), for an hour and a half or so, until a inch deep hole made by your wet wet finger does not fill in at all. With finger does not fill in at all. With wet hands wet hands deflate the dough and let it rise in its warm place once more, this time for about 45 minues. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and deflate; divide into two lumps and gently shape them into rounds. Let them rest until they are quite saggy, then form carefully into loaves. deflate the dough and let it rise in its warm place once more, this time for about 45 minues. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and deflate; divide into two lumps and gently shape them into rounds. Let them rest until they are quite saggy, then form carefully into loaves.

This bread is really at its prettiest baked in greased 1 quart bowls, dusted with fine cornmeal before the rounded loaf is put inside. For best effect, choose a bowl with a round bottom; gla.s.s or stainless steel or pottery all work fine. The bread does beautifully, too, baked in standard-size 8x4 loaf pans, and it's probably easier to handle if you will be making it into sandwiches. It is generally far too soft for a successful freestanding hearth loaf.

Let the shaped loaves rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes or until a gentle indentation of the finger fills in very slowly.

Place in a preheated 350F oven; bake about an hour.

Kasha Bread - 1 cup raisins (145 g) - 1 cups water (350 ml) - 2 tablespoons oil (30 ml) - 2 teaspoons active dry yeast ( oz or 7 g) - cup warm water (120 ml) - cup buckwheat groats (122 g) - 2 teaspoons salt (14 g) - 5 cups whole wheat bread flour (830 g) Even those who usually don't favor the outspoken Russian grain often do like this bread-and buckwheat fans are crazy about it. The hearth loaf is like a big taupe soccer ball, very pretty. Good hot from the oven with Better-b.u.t.ter* or soft white cheese; great with saucy tofu, or peanut b.u.t.ter; especially fine as an accompaniment to a hearty winter soup. or soft white cheese; great with saucy tofu, or peanut b.u.t.ter; especially fine as an accompaniment to a hearty winter soup.

Bring the raisins and the water to a boil in a saucepan, and simmer until the fruit is soft. Remove from heat and blend raisins and water in blender or food processor, or force through a sieve, making a thin, smooth paste. Add cold water or ice to the blended raisins to make 2 cups of liquid. Cool to lukewarm, and add the oil.

Stir the yeast into the cup warm water. Rinse the buckwheat groats well in warm water, drain, and put in a broad skillet. Heat, stirring constantly, until the grain is dry, turns reddish brown, and smells good. (For some variations on this.) Mix the roasted groats, the salt, and the flour together. Make a well in the center and add all the liquid ingredients, blending them into a b.u.mpy dough. Adjust the water and then knead extra well-25 minutes for light bread! Because of the kasha, the gluten will have a lot of work to do. The dough starts out warm, and the yeast responds enthusiastically to the fruit sugar, so the bread rises quickly. 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 a little less than 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.

Divide in two, handling the dough very gently from here on. Round the loaves, letting them rest until they are really relaxed, being careful to cover them to prevent their surfaces from drying out. For hearth loaves, round the dough again-the double rounding does make the loaves rise higher-and place on greased baking sheet to rise, again in a warm place. Instead of rounding the second time, you can shape the dough into loaves for standard 8x4 pans.

Let rise once more, about 30 to 45 minutes, until the touch of your moistened finger makes a dent that fills in slowly. Pan loaves should rise up nicely if you have done your kneading, arching over the top of the pan when they are ready to bake.

Whether you have made hearth or pan loaves, they will benefit from being slashed before you put them in the oven. We show patterns we like below. The pan loaves may rip on the surface during the proof, and if they do, just make the best of whatever rips there may be when you do your slashing.

Put the proofed breads in a 400F oven, and after ten minutes turn the heat down to 350F, baking the bread about 50 minutes in all. It may take a little longer, but the loaf is done when it sounds hollow if thumped on the bottom.

Crunchy Millet Bread - 2 teaspoons active dry yeast ( oz or 7 g) - cup warm water (120 ml) - 2 tablespoons honey (30 ml) - 1 cup cottage cheese (235 ml) - 1 cup hot water (300 ml) - cup millet (100 g) - 5 cups whole wheat flour (750 g) - 2 teaspoons salt (14 g) - 2 tablespoons b.u.t.ter (28 g), - OR - cup oil This is a pretty, polka-dotted loaf, high in protein and calcium. When the slices are toasted, the little millet dots look like stars in the sky. Finely ground bread flour has the edge over coa.r.s.er grinds in this one: the pale millet shows up better.

For the warmest flavor and crunchiest crunch, rinse and pan-toast the millet before you start, but if you choose to use the millet untoasted, it works fine.

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.

Stir together the honey, cottage cheese, hot water, and, if you use it, the oil. Mix the millet, flour and salt together, making a well in the middle; pour in the yeast and the cottage cheese mixture. Adjust as required to make a soft dough by adding either flour or water. Knead until very elastic, about 20 minutes.

Form the dough into a smooth ball, cover it, and let it rise once once in a warm place. Divide in two, and gently form into smooth b.a.l.l.s-smooth except for the millet! Let the b.a.l.l.s rest covered until they regain their suppleness, about 15 minutes; if the dough is soft, you are less likely to rip the gluten. Shape the loaves carefully, dusting the board with flour to help prevent the dough from tearing. The recipe makes two high, light 8x4 loaves, two very pretty hearth-style loaves baked in pie tins to cut into wedges for dinner, or a couple dozen dotty rolls. in a warm place. Divide in two, and gently form into smooth b.a.l.l.s-smooth except for the millet! Let the b.a.l.l.s rest covered until they regain their suppleness, about 15 minutes; if the dough is soft, you are less likely to rip the gluten. Shape the loaves carefully, dusting the board with flour to help prevent the dough from tearing. The recipe makes two high, light 8x4 loaves, two very pretty hearth-style loaves baked in pie tins to cut into wedges for dinner, or a couple dozen dotty rolls.

Proof in a warm place, giving the round loaves and the rolls a very full proof. The pan loaves should arch beautifully above the sides of the pans. The bread is ready to pop into a preheated 400F oven when a gentle indentation from your wetted finger fills in slowly. After baking about ten minutes, reduce heat to 325F and continue until done, about 45 minutes in all-longer if the bread is not so light as it should be.

Corn-Rice Bread - 2 cups cornmeal (244 g) - 4 cups whole wheat bread flour (600 g) - 2 tablespoons corn or sesame oil (30 ml) - 34 cups cooled, cooked brown rice (about 700 g) - 1 teaspoons salt (7 g) - 1 cups water, or more (355 ml) Some people feel strongly that bread is much better-both more healthful and more flavorful-when it is made without adding yeast but by letting the dough mature and ripen slowly by itself over a longer period of time. Organisms similar to those that would make a desem starter do begin to thrive in such doughs, and even though there is no added added yeast, there is considerable biological activity in the dough during the long fermentation due to so-called wild yeasts and dough enzymes; their by-products produce a loaf that is almost always exceptionally flavorful. The bread will not rise very much, though it may spring a little in the oven from the expansion of steam. yeast, there is considerable biological activity in the dough during the long fermentation due to so-called wild yeasts and dough enzymes; their by-products produce a loaf that is almost always exceptionally flavorful. The bread will not rise very much, though it may spring a little in the oven from the expansion of steam.

There are several unyeasted breads in this book. The present recipe is the kind gift of Marcia Miller from the Bexley Natural Food Co-op in Columbus, Ohio; it is one of the best we have tasted. As you might expect from the modest salt measure, the bread's flavor is subtle; but before you increase the salt, try it as is, sliced very thin, with a miso-tahini spread.

Mix the cornmeal and flour and rub the oil in with your fingers. Mix in the rice, working it until the grains are all separate. Add the salt and enough water to make a pliable, kneadable dough; how much water you need will depend on the wetness of the rice; if your rice is on the chewy side, you may want as much as 3 cups. Knead the sticky dough until elastic, about 15 minutes.

The bread can be shaped at once and baked, but it is at its best (and lightest) if you let it stand, covered, 12 to 16 hours at a cool room temperature, then shape into two round hearth loaves and put them on a cornmeal-dusted baking sheet. Place in a cold oven, turn to 350F, and bake about an hour.

Cool completely before slicing, and slice very thin.

VARIATION.

Add sesame seeds or sunflower seeds, about 1 tablespoonful per loaf.

*That delicious nine-grain bread, by the way, turns out to be made from sprouts! If you want to try it, see our suggestions for making sprout breads.*If you have leftover oatmeal porridge, you can use 2 cups, and 2 teaspoons salt*BETTER-b.u.t.tER is an easy-spreading mixture of b.u.t.ter and oil, a favorite recipe from is an easy-spreading mixture of b.u.t.ter and oil, a favorite recipe from Laurel's Kitchen. Laurel's Kitchen. Blend 1 cup oil with 1 cup soft b.u.t.ter; to keep it firm longer at room temperature, include 2 tablespoons each, water and non-instant milk powder, and teaspoon lecithin; teaspoon salt is optional. Blend 1 cup oil with 1 cup soft b.u.t.ter; to keep it firm longer at room temperature, include 2 tablespoons each, water and non-instant milk powder, and teaspoon lecithin; teaspoon salt is optional.

Fruits, Nuts & Seeds

No one needs to be told that raisins and walnuts and caraway seeds have a special place in the world of breads. Every homeland and almost every holiday boasts some particularly wonderful fruited or seeded or nutted bread all its own, with the fragrance of tradition to enhance the enjoyment of every bite. We have not attempted to include many such recipes-the best of them are your own family secrets-but if you are longing to make a wonderful bread that has form in your mind, but no name (and no recipe), a dozen fancy books of recipes will never supply it as readily as the application of your imagination and experience can; and if you're a little short on that, this section hopes to fill you in.

Making breads that are laced with fruits is a sure way to win high marks with the eaters, but it can be tricky, and what promises opulence, if not glory, can betray you with a weighty, gooey, or holey loaf-not at all what you had in mind. We hope that the tips in this section will help you produce exactly the bread you did did have in mind, or at least one that pleases as much as it surprises you. have in mind, or at least one that pleases as much as it surprises you.

This writing is just now being haunted by a tiny strawberry-blond fairy-G.o.dmother figure named Joan, a friend in the old days in Berkeley. She fell into breadmaking with vast enthusiasm, following no rules whatever, and was delighted with the results whatever they were. Her loaves were always freestanding, free-form, unutterably dense, and so packed with fruits and seeds and other marvelous things that when she pressed a chunk (there was no question of slicing slicing) into your hand and asked with shining eyes if this wasn't the most incredible incredible bread you'd ever eaten, you had to agree. bread you'd ever eaten, you had to agree.

There is a bit of Joan in most of us, thank goodness, but there's a prudent streak too, and in these days of soaring prices and shrinking hours, usually we would rather make sure the loaves we lavish our time and money on are going to be light as well as tasty, edible as well as incredible, free from holes and goo, and sliceable, even toasterable and sandwichable-though none the less special for that when there are raisins and nuts on the scene.

We are veterans of literally hundreds of loaves of raisin bread, and have done a bit of research, too, to try to understand and explain some of the quirks as well as some of the special talents of natural fruits, nuts, and seeds. In this section we talk about how to use them to their best advantage, giving recipes we have developed and like very much, to serve both as examples and as springboards to your own creations. The section groups fruits with nuts and seeds not because they have much in common as ingredients but because they complement each other so beautifully. When one is included, adding another is simply the logical thing to do.

ONE WORD ABOUT CINNAMON.

(Which is not a fruit, not a nut, not a seed.) Though it is probably the favorite of all the sweet spices, cinnamon is after all made of ground-up tree bark, so don't add it to dough along with the flour, or it can tear up the gluten and reduce the bread's rise. In addition, cinnamon reacts with yeast dough in a mysterious way, producing a metallic flavor that is extremely unpleasant to those who are sensitive to it. As you'll see, we like to add cinnamon when the loaf is being shaped, either as a dusting on the crust, or rolled into the loaf in a delicate swirl.

Fruits When we think of fruit in bread, raisins come instantly to mind, and in fact they are hard to beat. Other very flavorful fruits shine, too: dates, of course, apricots, prunes and currants. Fruits with subtler flavors like apple or pear can make a less showy but very good contribution when as juice or stew they provide the bread's liquid measure and its sweetener, naturally. Any addition of fruit improves the keeping quality of the bread.

If you have experimented much baking with fruits you will have observed that sometimes they seem to interfere with the normal rise of yeasted bread. We don't know of research that pinpoints the exact reasons, but it is not unlikely that fruits contain acids, active enzymes, and reducing sugars, any one of which could affect the quality of your dough. It is hard to generalize, but there are a few tricks that can help insure good results.

If you are baking with a new fruit whose effects on the dough you don't know, take a few precautions. Later, when you are familiar with its ways, you may decide that this fruit doesn't hurt the dough and so abandon these techniques with that particular fruit.

The fruit should have about the same moisture content as the dough, or be just a little drier, to prevent its juice from being drawn into the dough. For raisins and currants that are tender but not so soft they fall apart, steam or simmer for a few minutes, drain immediately, and let them cool before using. (When you don't mind darkening the color of the bread, use the broth as a part of the liquid in the recipe.) Cooking the fruit also deactivates stray enzymes in the fruit that could affect the dough.

Currants need to be washed. Prunes and dates need to be pitted, unless you buy them so; this is easy to forget. We find that there is more variation in the flavor of prunes than in most fruits, by the way, and the good ones are better than you could think. Pitted dates should be checked for inhabitants.

Unsulfured dried fruit is dark brown, tart, and often leathery: it needs to be steamed briefly-but not too soft, please. As we've mentioned elsewhere, soft apricots can disappear into the dough and make the bread unpleasantly tart. If the fruit you buy is already quite soft, it is worth baking baking it a half an hour or more in the oven on low heat, so that it can develop the toughness required to stand up and be noticed when the bread's eating time arrives. Even if the exterior becomes somewhat crusty in the process of drying out in the oven, the flavor improves. it a half an hour or more in the oven on low heat, so that it can develop the toughness required to stand up and be noticed when the bread's eating time arrives. Even if the exterior becomes somewhat crusty in the process of drying out in the oven, the flavor improves.

There's another view on making fruited breads that holds that the best time to add the fruit is after after the bread is sliced. Stew apricots, for example, in orange or pineapple juice to make a thick, tangy jam, and spread it on your toast. If the bread is plain, you are then free to use soy spread and tomato or cheddar and pickles on your sandwiches, and not have the challenge of tailoring all the week's lunches to those succulent bits of apricot in the bread. Still, apricotty bread with peanut b.u.t.ter or almond b.u.t.ter or cream cheese is a real knockout-not to mention that fruit breads make a most welcome gift. the bread is sliced. Stew apricots, for example, in orange or pineapple juice to make a thick, tangy jam, and spread it on your toast. If the bread is plain, you are then free to use soy spread and tomato or cheddar and pickles on your sandwiches, and not have the challenge of tailoring all the week's lunches to those succulent bits of apricot in the bread. Still, apricotty bread with peanut b.u.t.ter or almond b.u.t.ter or cream cheese is a real knockout-not to mention that fruit breads make a most welcome gift.

GLOOM ON THE DRIED FRUIT FRONT.

It is no secret that bright-colored dried fruits get that way because some form of sulfur has been used to preserve them. Grave questions are being raised about the safety of this ancient technique, and more information seems to be coming every day. Some people are allergic to sulfur, and they shouldn't have these fruits at all. The rest of us might do well-especially if we eat a lot of dried fruit-to choose the less colorful, unsulfured kind until more research has been done and we know more about the long-term effects of the residues left by this kind of processing.

SOME METHODS OF ADDING FRUIT.

Most of these recipes direct you to add dried fruit to the dough just at the end of the kneading period. The advantage is that there is minimal wear and tear on the dough that way, the fruit is evenly distributed, and you don't have to fuss with it again.

On the other hand, if the raisins are too hot from steaming to add them at the beginning, or you want to add them to only one of the two loaves you are making, there's no law that says you have to add them in the first stage. For example, you can fold fruit (and nuts) into the dough after the first rise, when you deflate the dough. Press it flat, spread the fruit, fold it up, and let rise again.

Another alternative is to add the fruit when shaping the dough. Instead of shaping in the usual way, roll it into a rectangle using many light light strokes of the rolling pin. Use as little flour on the board as you can get away with. For a regular loaf pan, the rectangle should be about seven inches wide (just shorter than the length of the pan), and about two feet long. Cover the surface of the dough with about cup of dry raisin-sized pieces of fruits and/or about cup of chopped nuts. Leave about 2 inches free at the far end so that you will be able to seal the loaf. Lightly press the pieces into the dough with your rolling pin so that the dotted surface is nearly smooth, and then roll the dough up tightly, being fanatically careful not to incorporate any air into the roll at all. End up with the bare two inches and seal very well by pinching. Place the seam downwards and run the rolling pin gently lengthwise over the loaf to expel any air that might have sneaked in. Put the loaf in a greased pan as usual. Dust the top with cinnamon for extra pizzazz. strokes of the rolling pin. Use as little flour on the board as you can get away with. For a regular loaf pan, the rectangle should be about seven inches wide (just shorter than the length of the pan), and about two feet long. Cover the surface of the dough with about cup of dry raisin-sized pieces of fruits and/or about cup of chopped nuts. Leave about 2 inches free at the far end so that you will be able to seal the loaf. Lightly press the pieces into the dough with your rolling pin so that the dotted surface is nearly smooth, and then roll the dough up tightly, being fanatically careful not to incorporate any air into the roll at all. End up with the bare two inches and seal very well by pinching. Place the seam downwards and run the rolling pin gently lengthwise over the loaf to expel any air that might have sneaked in. Put the loaf in a greased pan as usual. Dust the top with cinnamon for extra pizzazz.

Because of all the pushing around, the loaf may want some extra rising time, but if you have done this perfectly, you will have a swirl of fruit and the sliced bread will not separate along the swirl, wreaking havoc in your toaster. If the fruit is wet-stewed prunes, for an extreme example-or if there is too much, or if you succ.u.mb to the temptation to add sugar and b.u.t.ter, the swirl will separate perforce. The wet fruit probably will also prevent the dough from cooking. (That can wreak havoc with your digestion.) FRUIT AS A LIQUID SWEETENER.