Monday, March 22, 2010

Quinoa Bread: Lahey-ified.

I must admit, that since Lahey obsession has set in, I really haven't felt like making any other bread variations. I was quite happy in making my new standby which is the Pane Integrale with a bit of extra flax meal added. Not only is it delicious and healthy, it lasts a freakishly long time. A long time if it isn't gobbled up, that is.

Well, because I was out of town for the weekend, Monday morning came with no 24 hour Lahey dough to work with. I decided to give another bread a try - since I bought this book at the same time as the Lahey book and confess to never having cracked it open until this morning. I was almost out of AP flour, which was alright since most of the bread recipes in Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day are predominately whole grain. When I came across one for Quinoa Bread, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to have a loaf of bread ready for my dinner deadline. And, I'm kind of a sucker for anything with quinoa in it.

The main differences in the two approaches to "no-knead" bread as I see them are these: 5 Minute a Day bread uses much more liquid and yeast, rises faster and can be stored in most cases for up to 2 weeks, and Lahey bread uses a fair amount of liquid, but only produces one loaf at a time that takes around 24 hours to complete. I

think the Lahey bread is my new favorite method as well, since it is baked in an "oven within an oven". (My new Lodge pre-seasoned 5 quart dutch oven is working out splendidly, by the way.) No messing about with pouring in water for steam, and considerably less mess, which is something of note for someone who by nature tends not to be the neatest when working with doughs. I also find that the flavor is a bit more to my liking.


Quinoa bread dough.

Rather than lament the omission of my bread baking in a pot, I decided to mix up the Artisan Bread in 5 Quinoa bread, and then treat it like I would a Lahey bread, sans waiting for 24 hours. My resulting loaf was still ABin5ish, but had enough Lahey characteristics to satisfy my obsessions. And it tasted great too, with the slight nuttiness of quinoa adding a millet-like texture to the bread. I know on the ABin5 website, they give tips for baking in pots, and I remember perusing it some time back, but I just used Lahey's methods and temperatures outlined in his book. I'll recount my recipe and procedure below, but the ingredient list isn't changed much from the original except that I did use half the recipe. You can easily double the dough and store it under refrigeration for up to 10 days.


1st raising.



2nd Raising.

Quinoa Bread (Layhey-ified, but still Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day's recipe.)

  • 1 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 c. ap flour
  • 1/4 c. bread flour (you can use all ap flour, but I was out after 1 1/2 c...)
  • 1/2 c. quinoa
  • 1 t. active dry yeast
  • 3/4 t. kosher salt (could actually use a bit more, to my taste)
  • 2 T. vital wheat gluten
  • 1 1/2 c. plus 6 T. lukewarm water
Mix dry ingredients together, then add water and mix well with wooden spoon, spatula, or stand mixer with paddle attachment. Cover the dough, and let it raise at room temperature until it rises and collapses slightly, at least 2 hours. (Actual time will depend on how much yeast, how warm or cool your room temperature is, and how lukewarm your water was.)

Dust a clean linen (or non-pilling) kitchen towel with ample amounts of wheat bran and/or oat bran.

(I could have used the whole half batch of dough here for a single loaf, but I used about 2/3 of it.) Using a bit of extra flour, shape it into a round as quickly as possible, aiming for forming a tight "skin" on the outside of the dough by pulling the top around to the bottom. It's a sticky dough, so use some extra flour if you need it. When you have a nice neat boule shape, rest it on the wheat bran dusted towel, and cover loosely with the sides of the towel. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with a bit of extra bran if it seems too sticky. Let it raise for another 2 hours or so, until the loaf looks pleasantly plump, and an indentation made by your index finger lingers in the loaf after you press it in gently.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees about a half an hour before baking, and put lidded dutch oven in the oven before doing so. When the oven is to temperature and the pot is heated, carefully remove the pot from the oven, and take off the lid. Quickly and carefully, invert the loaf into the pot, trying not to "plop" it too much if possible. Put the lid back on and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes have elapsed, remove the lid, and bake another 15 minutes until loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.

Be patient, and try not to cut into the loaf until it has cooled completely.

I was happy with the final product, when it cooled and I finally cut into it and ate the heel plain for my initial discriminations. It made good sandwiches for dinner tonight, and I'm looking forward to having it toasted for breakfast tomorrow. I am also happy at the additional complete protein it contains, and that my Husband thought it "wasn't bad"! I'll call it a win, and keep it around in my bread-making repertoire. Next time, I may try starting it a day earlier and reducing the yeast down to the 1/2 teaspoon that is the hallmark of Lahey bread. Now I'm kind of curious...

12 comments:

  1. It's a gorgeous loaf, that's for sure! I'll be curious to know how things go the next round as you "Laheyfy" the loaf even more!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would never have thought of quinoa bread, but it looks delicious. My Lahey book is still at the bedside table and not in the kitchen: I must remedy this!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks great! I'm now motivated to make more bread, if solely to use the adjective "ABin5ish"

    ReplyDelete
  4. ABin5ish is a good one, isn't it?! It's fun to type, too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh I love how you combined two recipes to make your own. That shows great technique. This bread looks seriously amazing, and quinoa is amazing in so many ways, especially for vegetarians like me. Your quinoa looks a lot different than the kind I get -- is the reddish color a different variety? It looks lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  6. msmeanie, I've seen white, red and black at my food co-op lately. I'm not sure if there is much taste difference, but the nutritional information varied a bit on the bulk bins. That seems strange, I'll have to get Googling and find out if that is true (and why)!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautiful bread. I have the book as well, love how you combined two reipes! Great blog.

    ReplyDelete
  8. So is the quinoa uncooked? And if so, does it soften in the bread, or remain kinda crunchy? The bakery I worked at in high school made a 7-grain bread with millet, but cooked it first....

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes, Deena, uncooked. I didn't notice any " over-toothsomeness" either. Pleasant "popping" when you catch a quinoa kernal, but otherwise really good without cooking first. I do wonder if it is nutritionally better to cook it first...do you know?

    Raw quinoa in granola is great, too- but I wonder if it is kind of like flax and needs to be ground first to be of nutritional benefit. If you know, let me know!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Kernel, not kernal... Edit, edit!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have done my Artisan Bread in 5 minutes and added about 1 cup COOKED quinoa - Raw quinoa has an outer casing containing saponin which binds with some of the nutrients from your diet and prevent them from being absorbed - not really what you want. Also unless you actually chew through each quinoa "seed", you will not reap the nutritional benefit of quinoa (much like you have to chew flax seeds to get the nutrients or they just pass undigested through your digestive system). Additionally, some experts suggest eating raw quinoa (and other raw grains) can cause intestinal issues for some...If you are going to include them raw, best to rinse them and grind them to get the maximum nutrients or make it easy peasy and just cook some like I did and add it to the bread mix - again, if you add the right amount, the bread will still rise nicely and have all the health benefits of quinoa!

    ReplyDelete

Communication is a good thing, most of the time...