Bread Machine (112 page)

2 cups marinara sauce, canned or homemade

8 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced

³
/
₄
cup grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Drizzle the olive oil in the bottom of a deep 13-by-9-inch baking dish or casserole, and place a layer of the bread slices over the olive oil. Cover the bread with an inch of cabbage, and then with a layer of onions. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with
²
/
₃
cup of the chicken broth. Spoon a layer of
²
/
₃
cup marinara sauce and a layer of mozzarella. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Repeat the process, making 2 more layers of bread, cabbage, onions, broth, sauce, and cheese. Top with the last layer of cheese.

Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, until set and all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

ALL KINDS OF FLAVORS

Breads Made with the Produce of the Garden, Orchard, and Creamery

Herb, Nut, Seed, and Spice Breads

Herb Bread

Fresh Dill Bread

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Herb Bread

Rosemary-Lemon Bread

Mountain Herb Bread

Buttermilk Bread with Lavender

Whole Wheat Basil Bread

Herb Light Rye Bread

Sour Cream Semolina Bread with Herb Swirl

Olive Oil—Pine Nut Bread

California Nut Bread

Pecan Raisin Bread

Toasted Walnut Bread

Sunflower Oatmeal Bread

Paximadia

Zuni Indian Bread

Orange-Cumin Bread

Moroccan Bread with Sesame and Aniseed (Kisra)

Potato Bread with Caraway Seeds

David SooHoo’s Bao

Mixes and Some Special Breads Created from Them

Fresh Herb Bread

Tomato Flatbread with Marjoram

Red Wine—Walnut Whole Wheat Baguettes

Green Chile Bread

Fig and Walnut Bread

Polish Poppy Seed Bread

Savory Vegetable and Fruit Breads

Black Olive Bread

Pain d’Ail

Balsamic—Caramelized Onion Bread

Tomato Bread

Sweet Potato Bread

Zucchini Bread

Cherry—Wheat Berry Bread

Prune Bread

Rosemary—Golden Raisin Bread

Carrot Bread with Crystallized Ginger

Applesauce Bread

Squash or Pumpkin Cloverleaf Rolls

Stuffing Breads

Chicken Stuffing Bread

Fresh Herb and Nut Stuffing Bread

Fresh Herb Stuffing Bread with Fennel Seed and Pepper

Cornmeal Stuffing Bread

Prosciutto Stuffing Bread

Cheese Breads

Ricotta and Fresh Chive Bread

Cottage Cheese Dill Bread

Farmstyle Cottage Cheese Bread

Buttermilk Cheese Bread

Crescia al Formaggio

Roquefort Cheese Bread with Walnuts

Parmesan Nut Bread

Roasted Garlic and Dry Jack Bread

Country Pancetta-Cheese Bread

Hot Jalapeño Bread with Longhorn Cheese

Beer Bread with Cheddar

Khachapuri (Stuffed Cheese Breads)

Feta and Spinach Bread

HERB, NUT, SEED, AND SPICE BREADS

ail to the first unknown baker who added earthy culinary herbs to a bread dough. It must have been long ago, because there are pictorial records from Egyptian tombs that give directions for herbed loaves. The harmonious blending of grains, ingredients with distinctive fragrances, exotic spices, and nuts ushers one into a sphere of innovative taste experiences and invisible clouds of aroma. These flavors may be incorporated into every type of bread, from the simplest French loaf to a rich egg bread. Bakers are invited to embellish at their whim, adding delicate, balmy dill; warm, bold oregano; assertive, licorice-like tarragon; or resiny thyme. Any herb, nut, or spice added to a bread immediately makes it more distinctive. And breads with these additions have a wide appeal, complementing all sorts of foods and culinary traditions.

The way herbs are used in a cuisine can become a “trademark,” so much so that the geographic region of many an ethnic bread can be identified by its flavors. The modern regional cuisine of Provence, for example, is based on the flavors of wild herbs that grow in France’s sunbaked southeast corner, a pungent blend of rosemary, thyme, lavender, savory, and oregano. The blend of these spices has become well known as
herbes de Provence
, a blend with a scent sometimes more akin to perfume than to culinary flavoring. The Greeks love both pungent oregano and basil, a holy herb in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Italians also take their herbs seriously, using lots of borage, mint, sage, basil, and flat-leaf parsley. Certainly the most famous Italian bread, pizza, is a showcase for herbs. Scandinavian cuisine and fresh dill are forever partners, and traditional Mexican cooking relies on
heirbas de olor
, “the aromatic herbs”: Mexican laurel, rosemary, cilantro, Mexican tarragon, Spanish oregano, and sage. Hungarians, Poles, and Russians bake with marjoram, garlic, paprika, parsley, dill, and caraway. In baking, these herbs can be integrated into breads in one of three ways: by adding the fresh or dried herbs to the dough; by brushing the dough with an herb-infused oil before baking as for focaccia; or by baking the bread atop a bed of aromatic branches, such as rosemary or fennel on a grill.

Nuts and seeds are other natural ingredients that go well in breads. They exude their precious, health-giving oils into a dough in the presence of heat, and so lend their character to the dough. For some bread lovers, the lack of nuts in a loaf actually makes it incomplete. Many nuts that were once considered only of local interest are now available worldwide. Commonly available nuts, including walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts (filberts), pistachios, pine nuts (pignolia), chestnuts, cashews, peanuts, and almonds, can be used toasted or raw. They come whole, slivered, blanched, sliced, ground into meal-like flours, and made into oil-rich, spreadable butters.

The array of seeds that can be used in breads ranges markedly in size, shape, and flavor. Sun-flower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and flax seeds, the new darlings of the health set, are smaller in size than nuts, but contribute similar qualities.

They are great favorites in bread as much for their crunch as for their flavor. Then there are the ancient seeds—poppy seeds, sesame seeds, fennel seeds, and coriander seeds, flavors that have been used by bakers for thousands of years. These tiny seeds are packed with flavor; some of them are known as spices.

In addition to earthy shriveled seeds, spices include curled barks and buds, berries, and gnarled roots from precious trees and plants. They come with a wealth of lore steeped in myth. Spices’ ability to heighten the effect of food, their antiseptic properties that masked unsavory flavors resulting from a lack of refrigeration, and their use in traditional rituals, provided the impetus for some of the greatest explorations. Cities like Venice and Alexandria; people like Marco Polo, Vasco da Gama, and Christopher Columbus; the Crusades and the East India Trading Company, all figure into the historical evolution that brought spices to the Western world and made them an integral part of our kitchens.

The world of flavored breads from the machine is one that asks the baker’s senses to see, taste, smell, and feel the variety of warm colors, flavors, and textures. These breads are artful and fragrant. No esoteric knowledge is needed, just a light touch and a whimsical, creative spirit. But keep in mind that flavors in bread are most dramatic as a tantalizing whisper rather than a dominating flavor.

One note about how to store some of the flavorings used in this section: Store your herbs and spices in a cool area of the kitchen, away from the heat of the stove or direct sunlight. Keep the containers tightly closed. Use them regularly and check for potency once a year, replacing as needed. Freeze seeds, such as caraway, sesame, and poppy, in the jars in which they were purchased. Refrigerate nuts in airtight containers or packaging for up to two to three months; they will keep for a year or longer in the freezer.

n old-fashioned aromatic bread with a nice, light