Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Bread

Place oatmeal in a heat-proof bowl and pour boiling water over it. Stir once to mix, then set aside until cooled to room temperature. To make the dough place 1/2 cup water in a small bowl and whisk in yeast. Combine flour, brown sugar and salt in work bowl of food processor fitted with metal blade. Pulse until mixed. Add butter and continue to pulse until mixture is a fine powder with no visible pieces of butter. Remove metal blade and fit plastic blade. Add cooled oatmeal mixture and yeast mixture and pulse until the mixture forms a ball. Allow the machine to run continuously for 15 seconds. To mix dough in a heavy-duty mixer, combine flour, brown sugar and salt in mixer bowl and stir to mix. Cut butter into 12 pieces, and add to the flour along with the oatmeal and yeast mixtures; mix on low speed with dough hook until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. To mix the dough by hand, stir together flour, brown sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Rub butter in by hand, then add oatmeal mixture and yeast mixture. Stir to form a rough dough, then turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place dough in a buttered bowl and turn to coat all sides. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Turn risen dough out onto a floured work surface (you may need the help of a scraper). Press dough with palms of hands to deflate. To form loaf, stretch dough into a rough rectangle, then fold in short ends until dough is approximately the length of the pan. Then fold far long edge down to middle. Fold remaining long edge over and compress to form a tight cylinder. Place the loaf in the pan, seam side down. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise until doubled, about 1 hour. While the loaf is rising, preheat oven to 375 degrees and set a rack at the middle level. When the loaf is completely risen, place in oven and immediately lower temperature to 350 degrees. Bake about 30 to 40 minutes, until well risen and firm to the touch. The internal temperature of the bread with be about 210 degrees when it is done. Unmold the loaf to a rack to cool. Variations: OATMEAL RAISIN BREAD: Knead in 1 cup raisins by hand after mixing dough. NOTES : Recipe courtesy of Nick Malgieri Recipe by: Cooking Live Show #CL9040 Posted to MC-Recipe Digest by "Angele and Jon Freeman" <jfreeman@comteck.com> on Feb 7, 1998