The Life Changing Loaf of Bread

A week or two ago I can across a recipe entitled "The Life Changing Loaf of Bread". 

An entirely different approach to making bread, one that doesn't use any flours or yeast & is amazingly easy to make.

Filled with seeds, nuts, psyllium husks & linseed this loaf is really weird & truly delicious.

It's so tasty as it is & even more fabulous toasted.

It fills you up but digests really nicely too.

And...there's a whole pile of actual nourishment in it.

Here is the original recipe:
Ingredients:
1 cup / 135g sunflower seeds
½ cup / 90g flax seeds
½ cup / 65g hazelnuts or almonds
1 ½ cups /145g rolled oats
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
4 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks (3 Tbsp. if using psyllium husk powder)
1 tsp. fine grain sea salt (add ½ tsp. if using coarse salt)
1 Tbsp. maple syrup (for sugar-free diets, use a pinch of stevia)
3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil or ghee
1 ½ cups / 350ml water
Directions:
1. In a flexible, silicon loaf pan combine all dry ingredients, stirring well. Whisk maple syrup, oil and water together in a measuring cup. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix very well until everything is completely soaked and dough becomes very thick (if the dough is too thick to stir, add one or two teaspoons of water until the dough is manageable). Smooth out the top with the back of a spoon. Let sit out on the counter for at least 2 hours, or all day or overnight. To ensure the dough is ready, it should retain its shape even when you pull the sides of the loaf pan away from it it.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C.
3. Place loaf pan in the oven on the middle rack, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove bread from loaf pan, place it upside down directly on the rack and bake for another 30-40 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool completely before slicing (difficult, but important).
4. Store bread in a tightly sealed container for up to five days. Freezes well too – slice before freezing for quick and easy toast!

Many thanks for the recipe from here at My New Roots!!

My version:
~1 cup of sunflower seeds
~1 cup of broken cashews
~1/2 cup linseed (flaxseeds)
~1 1/2 cups oats...pin oats or rolled oats
~2 tbsps chia seeds
~1/2 cup psyllium husks
~1 tsp good salt (not refined crap)
~1 tbsp honey
~3 tbsps melted coconut oil or ghee
~1 1/2 cups warm water...otherwise the oil won't dissolve

In a large bowl put the oil, warm water & honey. Stir to dissolve.
Add all the dry ingredients & work it all through thoroughly.
Press in to a greased loaf tin.
Sit for at least two hours or overnight if it's more convenient.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 175 degrees for around 20 minutes.
Turn out the loaf on to an oven tray & continue baking for another 30-40 minutes
Cool before slicing.
Fantastic toasted.

I like to prepare my sunflower seeds properly before eating them, which is to soak them in water overnight, tip away the water & dry them well in a low oven before storing.
There were quite a few comments about the yucky taste of the sunflower seeds on the My New Roots page, this didn't happen at all with my loaf so I suspect it was the soaking that was useful.

Do ensure that all the ingredients are fresh when you go to use them, as even one item that has gone rancid will really spoil the loaf.

I'll post new photos as I make it again.

Catherine

Sourdough

Following on from the recipe for an active, living, breathing sourdough bug, this recipe below for a standard sourdough bread could change your life. 

First and foremost: Place a bowl of hot water under the bottom rack in your oven, and heat the oven to 50 degrees celsius. This will create a lovely, warm, moist environment for your bread to grow in.

Into 1 cup of warm water dissolve half a tablespoon of sugar, and over the surface of this sprinkle 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast. Leave it to sit and begin working for about 10-15 minutes as you organize the remainder of your ingredients. Traditionally sourdough bread is made without the use of yeast, however, after numerous trial and error practice runs, and several months of making this bread, I found that using this small amount of yeast reduces the proving time by about 6 or 7 hours, gives a softer texture to the body of the bread and simply makes the process more practical.

Sift into a large bowl 750 gm organic white flour, 1 and a half heaped tablespoons of sugar, and 1 and a half level tablespoons of fine sea salt.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, into which, pour the yeast mixture, two cups of your sourdough starter, and two generous tablespoons of olive oil. Using a fork and stirring well, gradually bring the dry ingredients into the wet, trying to keep an even consistency as you work.

Once it is as combined as much as the strength of your arm will allow, turn out onto a floured bench. Begin by simply bringing all of the loose ingredients into the body of your dough, continually sifting extra flour over the bench and your dough as you work, to prevent it from getting to sticky. Knead, punch, roll, and fold your dough into and over itself for about 10 minutes, until it resembles a soft, pliable, elastic ball of dough. Rinse out your bowl, which will need to be able to hold roughly three times the volume of dough as you have now. Place the dough into the bowl and oil liberally also coating the rest of the inner surface of the bowl, then cover with a warm, damp tea towel.

Place inside the oven and reduce the temperature to approximately 30-35 degrees, and leave undisturbed for between 2 and a half and 3 hours, give or take, or until at least doubled in size. Remove from the oven and knock back the air from inside your dough, but without over doing it.

Again turn out onto a floured bench, flouring the top of the dough as you do. At this point you can get brave and creative in shaping your loaves, but I would suggest maybe for first timers a loaf tin would assist ones confidence in getting a good result. This particular recipe can either make two quite large loaves, or as I prefer; three good size loaves, or of course several baguettes or alike if you wish. Shape as you please, remembering as you do that these will again double in size. Gently place your shaped dough into oiled and floured tins or onto well floured baking trays. Score the tops of your loaves with a small sharp knife if you’d like to, (this will encourage growth in particular directions according to where you cut). Now place in a warm spot like the hot water cupboard, but not back into the oven, and leave to prove again, this time for anywhere between 1 and a half and two and a half hours, or until they have doubled in size. Once they have reached their desired size turn your oven on to 180 degrees celsius, and leave your loaves as they are until it has reached that.

Bake your loaves one or two at a time, (remember to be very gentle at this point as not to bump them or slam closed the oven door, as you’ll bang all of the air out of your loaves, which is really not fun after all the hard work). Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly coloured, remove from the oven and either brush the surface with water, or even better, with a spray bottle spray the tops with water, and don’t be too shy. Return to the oven for a further 12-15 minutes until they’re golden brown, have a thick hard crust, and sound hollow when you tap it. Lay out on racks to cool, or eat hot with lashings of butter or good quality olive oil.

Once cooled, store in recycled bread bags in your pantry or bread bin. These loaves can last for weeks and weeks without going moldy, if it ever lasts that long. Old off cuts make marvelous crostini or bread crumbs, among other things at the end of their lives. But, for the first couple of weeks having it simply toasted, or pan-fried with good olive oil and sea salt, might just be the encouragement that will have you beginning to structure life around your baking days, and everything else then just has to fit in.

To make further batches, repeat the sourdough starter recipe, adding the remainder of the last batch of starter to the new one before putting back into your jars. But please proceed with caution, as this process becomes addictive yet at the same time life affirming. It brings joy, accomplishment and outright triumphant confidence in mastering a standard loaf. Don’t be afraid to talk to your starter as you nurture it, smell it often, and remember to feed it. 

After 10 months of learning from and growing with my starter, its producing the most marvelous loaves of bread two and sometimes even three times a week. However, seeing the enthusiasm emitted from my very alive starter, I’m becoming rather concerned that one day I may just hear it knocking from inside my fridge, at which point I hope it has something rather profound to say. 

Begin with the most simple form of this bread as above, and keep your eyes pealed for interesting and unusual variations on this recipe to follow. 

Katies Kindred Cook,

Matt.

Sourdough Starter

Please be warned, this is not for the faint hearted.. it takes patience, trust, and more than likely, a couple of practice runs when you get to the baking stage, till you end up with a ‘brag to your friends’ loaf of sourdough. But keep in mind, practice runs are still quite edible, and fun, and if a passion is invoked in your soul, a long lasting, loving and nurturing relationship can result with your sourdough starter bug...

You’ll need to begin with a large jar, the largest size ‘agee’ jar works a treat, but anything similar that either has a lid that can be loosely screwed on, or even something to tie on the top is good. Alternatively a couple of biggish jars can also work well, also, that way you can portion out the right amount for a batch in each jar if you decide to make this bread regularly.

Take two or three small to medium size organic potatoes, (better to use ones with a thick rustic skin, not the pretty little pre-washed white ones from the supermarket). In a pot, boil the crap out of them for about half to three quarters of an hour, or until all the skin has split and started to curl up. You will have to add extra water to keep them covered as they cook, as you want to end up with a thick potato water which will contain some of the live enzymes, that help develop the ‘sour’ characteristics for this bread.

While its still hot peel off and discard the skin of the potatoes, and mash the rest into the water. Pour this through a sieve, and using a spatula work the lumps through as well. Give this a good stir, and measure it out (should be about 2 cups worth). Pour it into a large bowl, and for each cup of potato water, add 1 cup of sifted flour, and one large tablespoon of sugar. Using a mix of different flours isn’t essential, but does muster a richer result than using just white flour. I use half a cup each of organic; white, wholemeal, spelt and rye flours. Now, using a wooden spoon, (as opposed to a metal whisk, as the metal begins overworking the sugars and enzymes before their ready) mix your concoction thoroughly. It ultimately should resemble the consistency of a batter, so you’ll probably need to gradually add fresh water as you mix, to loosen it up slightly.

Once it is well mixed and there are no lumps left, pour it out into your clean dry jars, filling to only about two thirds of the way up to allow your fresh bug space to develop and grow (if your using multiple jars, 2 cups per jar is a helpful amount for later use). Place the jars on the sil of an open window for about an hour, to allow it to attract the natural yeasts in the air. Then loosely screw on a lid, or tie on a thick material top, but it’ll need to be able to breath, and the pressure in the jar will change as it begins to.

When I first began my starter bug, which is now about nine months old, I left it to start developing in the hot water cupboard, but have since been told that it seems to have better results in the fridge, after which, I have found that in fact it does. However, having said that, I would suggest that for the first week of its life you keep it in the hot water cupboard.

Now.. this is where the need for patience begins, as the first part of the process takes about 12-15 days. Additionally, I found beginning this journey with no expectations, is a better path to walk than looking for immediate results. The first five or six days you can watch it through the glass, even sniff it a little, but otherwise don’t play with it too much. It COULD, in this time begin to develop some small air bubbles throughout, even bubble a little at the top, but if you don’t expect anything to happen you might just be surprised... At about day 6, feed it with 2 tablespoons of flour, and one of sugar, mixing it straight into the jar. Even though it will thin as it begins fermenting, you may need to add some fresh water when you feed it, just to keep it a good consistency. At this point, make a new space for its permanent residence in the fridge. Repeat this ‘feeding’ two or three times, at three or four day intervals, watching and smelling as you do. After which, your bug should have really begun fermenting, and breathing, resulting in lots of little bubbles in the body of the mixture. It also may have produced some larger bubbles too, increasing the volume at times, and then dissipating again at others through this first two weeks. But most of all is the smell. It's interesting to say the least, at first I didn't overly like it, actually it was a little gross, (you may find this too). But now I look forward to that deep, rich, maturing smell that permeates, that now smells more like a very well brewed, high alcohol beer.. the sort you'd need only one of on a summer afternoon.

BUT.. If it hasn’t followed this process, don’t lose hope, it may just need a little more attention... or possibly, a little less, depending on the level of enthusiasm you’ve shown. It’s like a new relationship, don’t be pushy and overbearing, you might scare off any potential growth.. but don’t lose interest after a few days because of a lack of passionate chemical reaction, as you may find you miss out on the beautiful relationship that could develop overtime..... Which I must add, is far more rewarding, when you see, feel, smell and taste what becomes loaf after loaf of incredible, rustic, aerated, chewy crusted, smells-like-an-artisan-bakery-in-your-house sourdough.

Be patient.



Katie's kindred cook - Matt

Hot Cross Buns

This is the recipe that I have used for 25 years.

The pictures are from the first time that Matthew & Fynn made hot cross buns together this Easter.

2 tbsps surebake yeast 

(has added extras that give a consistent result, regular yeast is fine too & fresh yeast is best of all if you can cajole a friendly baker into selling you some!)

2 cups of flour, 1/2 c brown or raw sugar, 50g diced butter

Add: 1c milk then 1 c of boiling water..stir & stand for a few minutes while you get the other ingredients ready

Stir in 1 1/2 tsp good salt, 1egg, 1 c mixed fruit, 1 tbsp cinnamon & 1 tbsp mixed spice

( 1 tsp vanilla opt)

add enough flour from 3 cups to make a soft workable dough

turn out on to a workable surface & knead for 10 minutes until smooth & satiny

adding a little more flour as needed to prevent the dough sticking to everything!

Wonderful! now cover the dough with a warm damp tea towel or glad wrap & leave in a warm place until doubled in size

... turn out on a floured surface & knead again. Cut dough in to 4 pieces & then divide each piece again in to about 7 or 8 & form in to balls. Arrange like this above or in a greased roasting dish..close enough together that when they rise they are touching each other.

Leave in a warm place again (covered) until double once more.

While the buns are proving make the crosses by rubbing 60 gms of cold butter in to 1 c flour then add water to form a stiff dough. Roll very thinly. Then cut into strips. 

Dip strips into beaten egg & lay gently on the buns once they have risen. 

Bake at 225 o C for 15-20 mins

Glaze immediately with syrup made by boiling 2 tbsps golden syrup with 1 tbsp of water for a minute. (Glaze optional) 

Share them with friends & neighbours  : )

It's all there..the spices, the crosses, the rising , the sharing...love