#34 Spent-Grain Bread

 

For me, this loaf was the major stumbling block in the book, the one loaf I doubted I would be able to complete when I began the project. Spent grain bread uses the "spent" or leftover grain from brewing. After the wort has been strained off the grains, the wort is used to create beer. The grains are discarded. While making bread is an ideal use for these spent grains, I was at a loss of how to come by this ingredient. Reinhart suggests exchanging bread for spent grains with a brewer, but I'm afraid I don't know any brewers. So, when I originally came to this recipe, I skipped over it. As I neared the end of the book last summer, I knew it was time to get back to this bread.

Ultimately, my solution was to create my own spent grains.I began by sprouting wheat. After a few day, I toasted the wheat and made my own wort. But unlike the traditional beer maker, I discard the wort and kept the grains. These were dried, coarsely ground, and then incorporated into the bread.

Frankly, I didn't have high expectations for the loaf.  I was doing this more from a compulsive drive to complete the book.  In fact, I found this to be one of the best breads in the book. While it was way too much work the way I did it, I would certainly make the bread again if I had a reliable source of spent grains.

#47 Chapatis, Parathas, and Roti

 

Since my last post was in May, it would appear I've abandon this project.  Actually, as to the baking, I've finished the book early last summer.  As to blogging, well it is fairly obvious that has fallen by the wayside. In fact, the interface has changed enough that I'm having to rediscover how to do the blogging.  Still, I'd like to wrap this up so I hope (but don't swear) to post a little each day until I'm done.  Still, this will translate into as best I can remember in most cases.

This posting is for three very similar Indian breads, Chapatis, Parathas, and Roti. All are nonyeasted flat breads.  The soaker is in fact the dough with Reinhart's recipe. The basic difference among these is how thick or thinly the dough is rolled and shaped.  All are cooked stove top in a skillet.

Chapatis are shown above but it is fairly easy to make all three at one go, as I did, to see which you like best. These worked well, but this is clearly a case of Reinhart reinventing classic Indian breads. I'm not sure how I feel about this since I have only a passing acquaintance with these breads. Personally, I need to go back and make each of these breads several time using traditional recipes before I can pass judgement on Reinhart's.

#46 Whole Wheat Naan

Naan is traditionally made with whole wheat flour so its inclusion in this book makes a lot of sense. On the other hand, naan is typically cooked in a tandoor oven at extremely high temperatures so cooking it at home can be less than optimal.

Unlike pita, the previous recipe, this is much simpler. While the dough is prepared the night before, this does not require a soaker or preferement. (You still need to refrigerate the dough overnight.) Baking is done on a stone but with out a steam pan. (I can't help but wonder if a preheated cast iron pan would have worked better. I didn't try it.) The picture shows two naan before being brushed oil or butter. I prefer the butter.

Overall a very nice recipe. But having made naan without the delayed fermentation, I can't really say this is better. Perhaps if I tried them side-by-side?

#45 Whole Wheat Pita

For so simple a bread as pita, this seems an overly complex recipe with soaker, biga, and overnight fermentation. I think of pita as a relatively quick bread. Still, it seemed worth trying.

The recipe is not difficult if a bit tedious. The recipe worked as expected. The picture shows three breads. The first was overcooked and hardened in its puffed state. The second shows the browned side that rested on the stone. The third shows the puffed side.

Overall, the bread was fine. I have no real complaints. But then again, I wasn't overwhelmed by it either. This is probably a recipe that would work better as a transitional bread than as a 100% whole wheat bread.

#44 Multigrain Pizza

This was another combination recipe—either whole wheat or multigrain pizza. Having previously made Reinhart's whole wheat pizza, I elected to make a multigrain pizza this time around. (In the interest of full disclosure of biases, I typically prefer multigrain breads to whole wheat breads.)

I followed the recipe as written. For my grains, I used the Harvest Grain mix from King Arthur, a longtime favorite of mine. I used a variety of toppings, including leftover taco filling, salsa, and cheddar cheese; two pizzas with pesto, feta and nuts, one with pine nuts and one with walnuts; and two with tomato sauce and cheese, one with onions, mushrooms, and pepperoni, and another with sausage and walnuts. All were excellent. This isn't your usual pizza but the crust worked well, particularly with toppings combinations that include walnuts. Another pleasant recipe worth making again.

#43 Whole Wheat Focaccia

I love focaccia but when I think of focaccia, I think of a light, open bread. The idea of a whole wheat focaccia is a bit contradictory for me. Still I thought it worth a try. And indeed it was.

I made half the recipe following the recipe closely.  I topped the focaccia with Gorgonzola, walnuts, and caramelized onions. The results weren't as light as a traditional focaccia, but were nonetheless quite tasty.

Overall, this is an approach that works beautifully for whole wheat giving an unexpectedly light product. (Also, if you are trying to work your way into whole grains, along with the transitional breads, this is a good place to start.) The recipe gives an option of making Pain À L'Ancienne Mini Baguettes which I did not attempt. This is certainly work going back and doing in the future. This recipe is a keeper.

#42 Multigrain & Pumpernickel Bagels

Once again, I've had a very long break in writing. In the meantime, I've taken on a couple of new challenges. As the Hamelman challenge has drawn to a close, the Mellow Bakers have started up a new challenge to bake through The Handmade Loaf by Dan Lepard. I haven't created a blog for this yet, but I've made ten recipes from this book, the first four recipes in the challenge along with six others.

I've also created a personal challenge, to bake through Baking Artisan Bread by Ciril Hitz over a period of ten weeks. This book is organized around ten basic formula with variations for each. I'm eight weeks into this challenge and am on schedule. Again, I haven't created a blog for this either. As to this challenge, I'm five posting behind. So, over the past couple of months and done lots of baking but very little writing. So it's time to catch up.

Having previously made Reinhart's whole wheat bagels, for the next recipe I opted to make multigrain and pumpernickel bagels. Using the biga recipe as given, I made half a recipe each of the soakers for the multigrain and pumpernickel bagels. I divided the biga the next day and made two sets of bagels otherwise following the recipe as given. In each case I used the barley malt syrup. With the pumpernickel bagels, I opted for the molasses over sorghum. My memory is a bit hazy at this point. For the grains, I believe I used a Quaker Oats Multigrain cereal. In the photo, these are the ones with the black and white sesame seeds.

Frankly, the results were less than stellar—okay but not exciting. Since bagels tend to be dense and chewy to begin with, the use of whole grains can lead to a very heavy product. This was not my favorite.