Bread

Sprouted-grain bread offerings in the market have been slowly but steadily on the uptick of late, and a number of health claims have attached themselves to the spongy, nutty-tasting loaves: more digestible, richer in protein and higher in vitamins and minerals compared with other breads. But are the claims true? Yes -- and no. Sprouted-grain products have distinct nutritional advantages over white breads, but when compared to other whole-grain breads, they're usually nutritionally comparable -- although nutrient contents can vary, depending on the sprouts included.

Ailing Twinkies maker Hostess Brands Inc. is going toe-to-toe with its workers' unions in a courtroom clash that the company said may lead to its liquidation. Hostess is trying to persuade a federal bankruptcy judge in New York to allow it to reject existing collective bargaining agreements with the Teamsters and bakers' unions. The maker of Ho Hos, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, three years after emerging from its last bankruptcy.

So how many omega-3 fatty acids are enough — and how should you get them? That likely depends on your age and your specific health concerns. The United States does not yet have guidelines for DHA or EPA, and consensus among nutrition experts is elusive. But specialty groups, some governmental agencies and individual experts have started to take a stand. For healthy adults without major medical issues, the European Food Safety Agency recommends a daily dose of 250 milligrams of combined EPA and DHA, while the National Heart Foundation of Australia suggests 500 milligrams.

By the end of the year, Panera will have opened two more cafes that look and feel just like any of chain's other branches. But at the new locations, customers will be able to pay whatever they want for the food - even nothing at all. At a time of high unemployment, when about one in every seven American households is known as “food insecure,” Panera is joining a small but growing group of restaurants serving meals that are literally priceless....

A dreary November day in Umbria. On the shores of Lake Trasimeno, the holiday boats are pulled up and covered. We're visiting the frantoio of one of my favorite olive oil producers, Alfredo Mancianti, as he grinds a mound of purple-black olives into paste beneath an old stone wheel. He pops a couple of slices of bread into a beat-up electric toaster oven, rubs them lightly with just a touch of garlic, then spoons over a little golden green oil that has floated up from the crushed olives.

  Black Russian rye bread Total time: 1 1/2 hours, plus rising and cooling times Servings: Makes 2 loaves (about 16 servings) Our recipes, your kitchen: If you try any of the L.A. Times Test Kitchen recipes from this week's Food section, please share it with us: Click here to upload pictures of the finished dish. Note: Adapted from "The Bread Bible" by Beth Hensperger. Specialty flours are available at select well-stocked markets, health food, cooking and baking supply stores, as well as online.

Mark Stambler's sourdough and rye loaves are available at the Cheese Store of Silverlake (Friday through Sunday), 3926 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 644-7511, http://www.cheesestoresl.com ; the sourdough is also available through Silver Lake Farms CSA (by subscription, Fridays only), http://www.silverlakefarms.com ; and the rye is available at Cookbook Los Angeles (Sundays only), 1549 Echo Park Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 250-1900, http://www.cookbookla.com.

Emily's chocolate mandel bread Total time: About 1 hour, plus chilling and cooling times Servings: Makes about 4 dozen cookies 2 1/2 cups (10.65 ounces) flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 3/4 cup canola oil 3 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup sugar 1 cup white chocolate chips or chunks 1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Set aside. 2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat together the canola oil, eggs and vanilla.

  Total time: 1 3/4 hours (includes 1 1/4 hours baking time) Servings: 12 Note: If peaches are too soft to peel with a vegetable peeler or paring knife, drop them in boiling water for 10 seconds, transfer them to an ice bath to cool, then drain and peel. If you don't have stale bread, toast cubes of fresh bread in the oven at 350 degrees until just golden and dry, set aside to cool, then proceed with the recipe. Turbinado and demerara sugars are generally available at cooking and baking supply stores.

  Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes Servings: 6 to 8 Note: Use any high-quality country white bread such as pain rustique; you will need a loaf that weighs about a pound. Our recipes, your kitchen: If you try any of the L.A. Times Test Kitchen recipes from this week's Food section, please share it with us: Click here to upload pictures of the finished dish. 3 cups whole milk 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick)

To call a turkey sandwich the stuff of memories sounds far-fetched (few have waxed Proustian about a turkey club), but that's what it is to Peruvian chef Ricardo Zarate. The chef behind Los Angeles' Mo-Chica and Picca came to know and love the turkey sandwich not in his native Lima but while working at the Millennium hotel in London early on in his culinary career. The object of his craving: roasted turkey with fried sweet potatoes and jalapeno-cilantro aioli between two slices of buttery brioche.

Millions of Californians took part in one of the largest-ever simultaneous earthquake drills Thursday, sending students, hospital workers and even Target shoppers dropping for cover at 10:20 a.m. The annual ShakeOut drill, which attracted 8.6 million registrants in California, was intended to train the public on what to do the moment the shaking begins — dropping, covering your head, and holding on, rather than panicking and running, which would...

Dear SOS: Can you please get the bread pudding recipe from La Boulange ? By far, it's the best bread pudding I've ever tasted. It is so good! Thank you very much! Michelle Quach San Francisco Dear Michelle: A wonderfully different take on the classic, La Boulange sandwiches a rich, not-too-sweet croissant bread pudding between two crumbly short dough crusts. Dust the puddings with powdered sugar, and serve with whipped cream, chocolate sauce or a selection of fresh fruit.

A dreary November day in Umbria. On the shores of Lake Trasimeno, the holiday boats are pulled up and covered. We're visiting the frantoio of one of my favorite olive oil producers, Alfredo Mancianti, as he grinds a mound of purple-black olives into paste beneath an old stone wheel. He pops a couple of slices of bread into a beat-up electric toaster oven, rubs them lightly with just a touch of garlic, then spoons over a little golden green oil that has floated up from the crushed olives.

The quintessential Paris experience is to enter a boulangerie , inhale the heavenly smell of fresh bread and buy a baguette for an impromptu picnic on the Seine. Now imagine stuffing a euro into a vending machine that dispenses warm baguettes with all the cachet of an ATM machine. Talk about a buzz kill. French baker Jean-Louis Hecht calls his new baguette vending machine the "bakery of tomorrow," according to this Associated Press story. He has installed two vending machines so far -- one in Paris, one in a northeastern town called Hombourg-Haut -- that spit out hot bread for a Euro (about $1.42)

Mark Stambler's sourdough and rye loaves are available at the Cheese Store of Silverlake (Friday through Sunday), 3926 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 644-7511, http://www.cheesestoresl.com ; the sourdough is also available through Silver Lake Farms CSA (by subscription, Fridays only), http://www.silverlakefarms.com ; and the rye is available at Cookbook Los Angeles (Sundays only), 1549 Echo Park Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 250-1900, http://www.cookbookla.com.

Larry Knechtel, a member of the 1970s soft-rock group Bread, who had a wide-ranging career as a studio musician, has died. Knechtel died Thursday at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital in Yakima, Wash. He was 69. A hospital official would not release a cause of death, but a report in the Yakima Herald-Republic said he apparently suffered a heart attack. Knechtel played keyboards, bass guitar and harmonica as a member of the Wrecking Crew, a group of Los Angeles studio musicians that included future headliners Glen Campbell and Leon Russell and session drummer Hal Blaine.

One thing I learned this weekend in my effort to eat right was that I needed the right foods in my house -- including bread -- so on Day 2 of my eat-right campaign, I went to the grocery store. My cart had never seen so many vegetables, grains and water -- or such a profound lack of chocolate, sugar and fruit. It was pretty easy getting the romaine lettuce, reduced-fat Wheat Thins and Diet Dr. Pepper, but I learned a little something about bread that I never knew before. Usually, I would buy whatever bread was on sale.

As Mark Stambler struggles to open a flour-dusted folding table in his Los Feliz home kitchen, it's pretty clear those charming but space-hungry mint green country cupboards were not the brainchild of this efficiency-driven bread baker. "My wife did all of this," he says, waving his arms around his head. Stambler is more of a no-nonsense, get-straight-to-kneading sort of guy. When not working as a fundraising consultant for local arts organizations, he is the devout caretaker of 50 to 60 whole-wheat sourdough loaves that wind up each weekend at the Cheese Store of Silver Lake, Cookbook market in Echo Park and Silver Lake Farms CSA. For Stambler, those yeasty loaves make up for all the unexpected workweek glitches and the 1950s kitchen knickknacks.