Last week I attended a free class sponsored by the University of Idaho extension office (Go Vandals, right Josh?). Through the years I've taken advantage of gardening, budgeting and cooking classes offered by major university extensions. This is a professional, researched, versatile service offered with our state education dollars.
Class intent - Find Whole Grains you like and begin eating them!
Why: 3 whole grain servings a day can reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes by 25% and a stroke by 30%.
How: A serving is 16 grams/1 oz. or practically: 1 slice whole grain bread, 1/2 cooked whole grain cereal, 1/2 c. whole grain pasta, 5 whole grain crackers
If you're young you might say "big deal." "What difference does that make to me?" I recently heard my daughter Jaclyn, a Registered Dietician say, "Compared to the clients I regularly see in my office, the way we ate at my house growing up has naturally given me healthy habits as an adult." We are what we eat and making a few changes now can make a huge difference in the health of several people you influence.
Sidelight of class: We were given a loaf of bread to bring home and bake and we were given the ingredients to make more dough. Below is the recipe. This dough requires no kneading, can be stored in frig for 14 days and can be doubled or divided in half. It can be used for bread, rolls or pizza dough.
I received lots of handouts to supplement this info so feel free to ask a question. I'll share the info I have do some research. Handouts include recipes for buckwheat, olive spelt, emmer and toasted millet and fruit breads; info about ancient grains and yeast.
A Whole Grain Artisan Free-Form Loaf
Makes enough dough for at least four 1-pound loaves
5 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (if using whole wheat pastry flour you may not need as much water as it is low-protein)
2 c. all purpose flour, unbleached is healthiest
1 1/2 T granulated yeast - active dry yeast is fine, there is no need to mix with water first, stir into dry ingredients
1 T. coarse kosher salt (or 2 t. table salt) you can decrease for sodium reasons but not eliminate
1/4 c. vital wheat gluten - found in bulk food section or sold by Bob's Red Mill, store in frig
4 c. lukewarm water
cornmeal
parchment paper
Mixing and storing the dough Dough can be frozen for a month. Shape first and then wrap in plastic and foil.
1. Measure the dry ingredients: Use dry-ingredient measuring cups to gently scoop flour into measuring cup. Whisk together the flours, yeast, salt and vital wheat gluten in a 5-qt bowl or in a resealable, lidded plastic food container or food grade bucket (available at URM/Cash & Carry)
2. Mix dry ingredients with water - kneading is unnecessary: Warm the water until it feels slightly warmer than body temperature (about 100 degrees F). Add all at once to the dry ingredients and mix without kneading, using a spoon, a 14 c. food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle). You might need to use wet hands to get the last bit of flour to incorporate if you're not using a machine. Using warm water will allow the dough to rise fully in about 2 hours. Don't knead! It isn't necessary. Your finished when everything is uniformly moist, without dry patches. This step is done in a matter of minutes, and will yield a dough that is wet and remains loose enough to conform to the shape of its container.
3. Allow to rise: Cover the dough with a lid (not air tight) that fits well to the container. If you are using a bowl, cover it loosely with plastic wrap. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flattens on the top), approx. 2 hours. Longer rising times, even overnight will not harm the result. After rising, refrigerate in the lidded container and use over the next 14 days. Fully refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and easier to work with than dough at room temperature. Once refrigerated, the dough will seem to have shrunk back upon itself. It will never rise again in the bucket, which is normal for this dough. Do not punch down this dough! You are trying to retain as much gas in the dough as possible and punching it down knocks gas out and will make your loaves denser.
On Baking Day
4. Shape a loaf in 20 to 40 seconds. Prepare the rising surface, a piece of parchment paper or paper sheet by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal. Dust the surface of your refrigerated dough with flour. Pull up and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit size) piece of dough, using a serrated knife, kitchen shears or hard plastic scraper. Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it won't stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating a quarter-turn as you go to form a ball. Most of the dusting flour will fall off; it's not intended to be incorporated into the dough. The bottom of the ball may appear to be a collection of bunched ends, but it will flatten out and adhere during resting and baking. The correctly shaped final product will be smooth and cohesive. The entire process should take not more than 20 to 40 seconds. If you work the dough longer than this, it might make your loaf dense.
5. Form a narrow oval-shaped loaf and let it rest: Stretch the ball gently to elongate it, and taper the ends by rolling them between your palms and pinching them.
6. Allow the loaf to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, on the prepared surface for 90 minutes (40 minutes if you're using fresh, unrefrigerated dough). Depending on the age of the dough, you might not see much rise during this period; instead, it will spread sideways. More rising will occur during baking.
7. Thirty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, place an empty metal broiler tray or pan for holding water on any other rack in the oven.
8. Paint and slash: Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the top with water, milk or egg white. Sprinkle with a seed mixture if desired. Slash the loaf with 1/4 " deep parallel cuts across the top. Use a serrated bread knife help perpendicularly to the bread.
9. Baking with steam: After a 30 minute preheat, place your loaf onto a preheated baking stone or place the loaf and baking sheet in the oven. Quickly but carefully pour about 1 c. of hot water from the tap into the broiler tray and close the oven to trap the steam. Bake for about 30 minutes. Crust should be richly brown and firm to the touch. Allow the bread to cool completely on a wire cooking rack; for best flavor, texture and slicing.
10. Store the remaining dough in the refrigerator in your lidded container and use it over the next 14 days. Within 24 hours the dough begins to ferment and take on sourdough characteristics. Continuing to mix dough in the same container, unwashed, yields a heartier, rustic bread.
If dough is frozen, thaw in refrigerator and proceed with step 4. You may also bake loaves, freeze and crisp crust in hot oven before you serve.
Variation: Herb bread
herb-scented breads are great favorites for appetizers and snacks. Follow the directions for mixing the dough and add 1 t. dried thyme leaves (2 t. fresh) and 1/2 t dried rosemary leaves (1 t. fresh) to the water mixture. This also works with sliced olives, chopped garlic, onions, seeds, nuts or any other favorite ingredients.
Recipe from: Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, J.& Z. Francois Hertzberg
Shared by: Barbara Abo, Extension Educator
No comments:
Post a Comment