Bake Bread this Week-End with No Knead Grain and Seed Loaf from Amazing Grains (Kyle Books, US edition, February 2014) by Ghillie James.
The “No knead” grain and seed loaf
Bar a few good Aussie bakeries dotted around, the bread in Singapore (where I live) is not massively interesting or healthy, so it’s great to have a recipe for a cheat’s loaf up your sleeve. This one is my Swedish friend Anna’s creation, but adapted slightly to suit my family’s likes. It’s quite a dense bread, but certainly less dense and softer than darker pumpernickel-style breads, and uses whole grain spelt and whole meal flour rather than rye flour, which is commonly used in Scandinavian and German breads. It’s the perfect bread to quickly rustle up too, as it takes half the time a normal loaf takes to make, and it’s a great accompaniment to a bowl of soup, a smear of thick-set honey, or some smoked salmon,
chopped dill, and lemon.
Makes 2 x 2lb loaves
3 tablespoons light olive or vegetable oil, plus a little for greasing
51/2 cups stoneground whole wheat flour
1 and 1/2 cups wholegrain spelt flour
4 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoons flaxseeds, preferably ground
3 teaspoons sugar
3 teaspoons sea salt flakes
2 and 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
First, grease two large 2lb loaf pans with oil.
Mix the flour, spelt flour, seeds, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in 3½ cups warm water and the oil. Mix well with a spoon or your hand (it will be quite a wet mixture compared to normal bread dough).
Divide between the two greased loaf pans. Cover with a damp kitchen towel or an upturned mixing bowl and then leave in a warm place for 1–1½ hours until it has nearly doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Uncover the loaves and bake for 40 minutes until golden and risen. Tip the bread out of the pans and return to the oven rack for another 10–15 minutes— then test by tapping the base to hear if it sounds hollow. If it doesn’t, return to the oven for a further 5–10 minutes or until done. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
Alternative to spelt flour: instant oatmeal or use all stoneground whole wheat flour.
(* Recipe from ‘Amazing Grains‘from classic to contemporary, wholesome recipes for every day by Ghillie James -Kyle Books, US edition, March 2014- Photographs by Jonathan Gregson- all rights reserved)