St. Joseph's Bread

2 to 3 cups unbleached flour
1/2 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
2/3 cup hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons aniseed
1/3 cup golden raisins
Corn meal

Combine 1 1/2 cups of the flour, yeast, honey, water, salt, butter and aniseed in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly. Add raisins. Beat for another 10 minutes, adding flour until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out on a lightly floured surface. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic, adding flour as necessary to prevent stickiness. Lightly oil a large bowl. Place dough in bowl and turn to coat on all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk — about 1 hour.

Grease a baking sheet and sprinkle with corn meal or line one with kitchen parchment. Punch down the dough. Shape into a long loaf. Place the loaf on the baking sheet and make three or four 1/2-inch diagonal slashes on the top. Cover with a tea towel and let rise until doubled in bulk — about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mist loaves with water or vinegar before baking and twice during baking. Bake about 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

NOTE: Traditionally, you shape the bread to look like a patriarch's beard by making five torpedo loaves of graduated lengths, 1 long, 2 medium and 2 short. Place them close together on a baking sheet in the following order: 1 short, 1 medium, 1 long, 1 medium, 1 short. They will rise together and you'll have Pane di San Guiseppe.