december 15th.

sure to be one of my new all-time-favorite things...
i first made this bread for thanksgiving. due to an apparent run on every type of flour the store carried, i was left with whole wheat graham flour instead of regular whole wheat flour...but i think the change (and the addition of cheese and herbs) makes this beyond savory.

here is the recipe, adapted from this post on blue yonder's blog:

• 2 tbsp. warm water

• 1 ½ tsp. yeast

• ½ tsp. sugar
  

• 1 1/2 cups bread flour

• 2 cups organic whole wheat graham flour

• ¼ cup spectrum organic shortening

• 1/4 cup honey
  

• 1 tsp. coarse ground garlic salt

• 1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

• 1 tsp. chopped parsley
  

• 1 tsp. chopped basil

• 1 tsp. chopped oregano

• 1 cup warm water

in a small cup or bowl, combine warm water with yeast and sugar. let that sit for about 10-15 minutes. then, in a large bowl, pour yeast mixture, water, flours, shortening, honey and garlic salt. using an electric mixer or food processor, blend until all ingredients are incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

you can keep mixing for 3 or 4 minutes, then add cheese and other herbs. knead the dough by hand for about 3 more minutes--it should no longer be sticky, but smooth and elastic. if you push your fingers in, the hole should refill itself quickly.

remove the dough and place in a clean bowl that has been greased lightly with oil. turn dough over in bowl. cover the bowl with a damp clean cloth and place in a warm spot to allow dough to double in size. this took about an hour, but my kitchen was really warm from having my dryer running..heh.

after dough rises, punch down to eliminate bubbles. grease and flour 9x5 inch loaf pan. shape dough into a loaf and place in pan. in warm spot let rise again, uncovered until it doubles in size. this took about another hour.

preheat oven to 350 degrees. bake loaf for 30 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped lightly on top. makes 1 loaf.