Wild Rice Bread

Stir together 2 cups of the flour, the yeast, parsley, thyme, and wild rice in a large mixing bowl; set aside.

Heat and stir water, wine or water, butter or margarine, sugar, bouillon, and salt in a medium saucepan just until warm (120 degrees F to 130 degrees F), butter almost melts, and bouillon dissolves. Add water mixture to flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double (45 minutes to 1 hour).

Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Cover and let rise for 10 minutes.

Shape each half of the dough into a 6-inch round loaf, tucking edges underneath. Place loaves 3 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double (30 to 40 minutes).

Using a sharp knife, cut an X in the top of each loaf. Bake in a 375 degrees F oven about 40 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when you tap the top with your fingers (if necessary, cover loosely with foil during the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning). Remove bread from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

Place in an airtight container or bag and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator up to 3 days. Or, to freeze, place bread in a freezer container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Before serving, thaw bread at room temperature for 2 hours. Makes 2 loaves (32 servings).