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PEANUTS

If we can dignify peanuts by considering them in the nut section (they are of course really beans—nothing wrong with beans, mind you), we find them pretty awful in breads, quite rubbery even when toasted and added at the last, before shaping the loaf. A very peanutty flavored loaf can be achieved, however, by including ¼ cup or more of peanut butter in the dough, and the bread’s texture will be very good (that is a lot of fat). Put the chopped peanuts on the crust.

PINE NUTS

Last, should you come into an independent fortune—or have your own piñon trees and lots of time—pine nuts are wonderful. Try the pine nut pinwheels from Laurel’s Kitchen. We haven’t included a recipe in this book because since Laurel’s Kitchen, alas, the price of pine nuts has shot into the empyrean.

Seeds

Some people think of Seeds as a little weird and health-foody, but when it comes down to it, they are old favorites ready for renewed interest: sesame, poppy, sunflower seeds, caraway, fennel, anise. Since it is impossible to generalize, let’s look at them as the individuals they are:

SESAME

In this book we always mean the unhulled variety called “natural” or “brown” in the store. The kind you buy at the supermarket in tiny packages for a minor fortune are hulled and bleached. See if you can’t find the unhulled ones sold in bulk at a more reasonable price: not surprisingly, those hulls are loaded with essential minerals and B vitamins too.

Sesame seeds have a delightful warm, deep brown flavor familiar to nearly everyone. Their size and shape make them easy to use on and in bread—to embellish a crust, usually all you need to do is roll the dough in the seeds as you shape it. For the very best flavor, toast them lightly beforehand in the oven or on the stove top in a heavy pan (no oil required). As they toast, they pop, so use a deep pan like a Dutch oven on top of the stove if you don’t want them all over the place. Stir for even toasting.

Much of the flavor of any bread comes from its crust, so when bakers want bagels or rolls flavored with sesame, onion, garlic, poppy, or caraway, they use plain dough and put the flavoring on the crust. It permeates! This is true with loaves as well as rolls, though since there is proportionately less crust, the effect is subtler. For a nicely sesame flavor, all that is necessary is seeds on the crust. Sesame enthusiasts who want more emphatic flavor may want to use fresh unrefined sesame oil when mixing up the bread.

You can add toasted seeds to the dough, too, though it won’t make the bread any lighter. Ground toasted seeds add less flavor than you would expect, and definitely make a denser loaf; similarly with tahini, the flavorful sesame butter available in every natural foods store nowadays, often in raw, toasted, and in-between versions.

When you buy sesame seeds, try to get them American-grown. For years ours came from Mexico, but more and more often they were seriously dirty—full of sticks, rocks, and mouse droppings. Since that time we have also learned that controls on the use of pesticides outside the U.S. are nonexistent, with American corporations exporting to Latin America tons of toxic agricultural chemicals that are banned here. As we go to print, we cannot really recommend buying any food product from south of the border. Things improve when people are concerned enough; I would like to think that the situation will soon change completely.

POPPY SEEDS

Poppy seeds are usually more for sparkle than for flavor, though if used in sufficient quantity they certainly do have their own distinct taste. With poppy seeds, very little makes a wonderful show: just 1 or 2 tablespoons on a loaf’s worth will make an unmistakably poppy-seeded bread; a tablespoon sprinkled on a baking pan turns ordinary rolls into something special.

Don’t get white poppy seeds by accident—people will think it is sand or, worse, mold. The black ones are called blue when you order them in bulk.