Jul 25, 2011

No-Knead Gluten-Low Bread

Um. Wow. I have to say I’m pretty darn impressed with this bread. You might remember me hating on bread a few months ago, but this is not your superstore white sliced bread. This is homemade, moist, flavorful, nutrient-rich gourmet bread.

If I had sprouted my grains and ground my own flour, would it be even better? Definitely. But alas, that will have to wait. I’m lucky to have a stick blender where I am now, much less my amazing Vitamix for grinding grains, which is being lovingly cared for by my sister-in-law until I return home. (She will give it back, right?)

I found a recipe for gluten-free multi-grain bread at My Darling Lemon Thyme. (3 cheers for Southern Hemisphere bloggers!) Since I didn’t have (nor have I ever had, really) guar gum or potato starch, I chose some gluten-free and gluten-low flours from the organics shop and hoped the recipe would still come out edible with a few exclusions. Thankfully, it came out, in a word, delectable!

This is a great recipe for those of us that aren’t necessarily gluten-intolerant, but would prefer to avoid processed grains and flours in favor of more nutrient-rich and flavorful varieties. In the first batch I used a combination of spelt and rye flour, but the bread came out just as ridiculously delicious without the rye, so I’ve left it out in the recipe to keep things simple.

No-Knead Gluten-Low Bread

Ingredients:

2 tsp. active dry yeast

1/2 c. rice or almond milk

3/4 c. water

2/3 c. brown rice flour

1 c. spelt flour

1/3 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. oats or cornmeal (fine polenta)

1 tsp. sea salt

2 eggs, beaten lightly

4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp. honey

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

sesame seeds (or other seeds) to sprinkle on top

Directions:

Warm rice milk & water in a small saucepan. When it gets to blood temperature (drop a little of the liquid mixture onto the inside of your wrist-it’s at the right temperature if it feels neither hot nor cold. Somewhere between 95-115 F), pour into a small bowl and add the yeast. Stir to combine. Cover with a towel and set aside for the yeast to ferment for about 5 minutes.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the now bubbly yeast mixture along with the remaining ingredients and whisk together. The batter will look more like a pancake or muffin batter than it will a bread dough you can knead (hence ‘no-knead’ in the title!) Whisk for 2-3 more minutes to thicken the mixture slightly.

Pour into a greased loaf tin (or line the tin with baking paper first). Sprinkle the top with seeds, cover with a tea towel, and set the loaf in a warm place (75-77 F) to proof for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Once the oven is good and hot and your dough has risen about twice in size, place on the middle shelf and cook for 10-15 minutes. Once your crust has become golden brown, turn the oven down to 350 F and continue cooking for 20-25 minutes.

Keep this bread in the fridge for 4-5 days once it has cooled. But I dare you resist the temptation to eat a slice still warm and fresh from the oven! (Don’t bother trying, it really is futile. Some things are just too wonderful to resist.)

You’ll notice that while it does indeed rise, it doesn’t rise that much. So you end up with a rather short, squatty loaf. But did I let that stop me from making burgers with it? Absolutely not (I’m not crazy). I just planned ahead and formed my burger patties in a rectangular shape!

Voila! Grass-fed burgers on homemade No-Knead Gluten-Low Bread with Rosemary Potato Wedges and Apple Poppyseed Coleslaw. Mmm . . .

Do you bake your own bread? What is your favorite flour combination?

This post is linked to Meatless Monday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday