The Bread Machine Is Back

The last bread I baked was a failure - too moist and very uneven. My six-year old bread machine is very finicky. I did not closely watch the previous loaf during the kneading and rising process. In fact, I was out of the house. However, the machine redeemed itself this afternoon with an aromatic and delicious rosemary, thyme, dill loaf. I was at home the entire time. The rosemary is from my garden; I dried fresh dill purchased from the grocery store; and the thyme was purchased dry. The loaf has an airy and chewy center with a lightly crunchy crust.

The recipe is from the manual that came with the machine oh so many years ago. The recipe is a 1-1/2 lb. basic white/french loaf. I substituted 1 cup each of organic whole wheat pastry flour, organic fine whole wheat flour, and organic unbleached flour for 3 cups all purpose flour. I did not have all purpose flour. I had approximately 1 cup each of the afore-mentioned flours. Vegetable oil at 1-1/2 Tbl. is optional; I used about 1/4 1/8 cup olive oil. I could have used apple sauce, a low-fat substitute for oil, but I did not have this either. For dinner, I plan to eat my bread (not all of it of course) with a bowl of cold mango soup or maybe a bowl of reheated coconut carrot onion soup.