Interesting Bread Technique. . .

When a video came up on YouTube showing this boiling water technique, I laughed.  By the end, it made sense. And those gorgeous loaves. Someday I'll follow his recipe, but for now I wanted different flours and a good grainy bread. Seems to me if I remember right, the French or Italian bakers use a steam oven to get the amazing crispy crust on their baguettes and artisan loves, so suddenly, dropping loaves into boiling water prior to baking, sounded like a fun experiment! 

• 1c warm coconut-almond milk
• 1t white balsamic vinegar
• (milk+vinegar=buttermilk)
• 2t turbinado sugar
• 1/2T instant dry yeast
• 1t Himalayan pink salt

• 1-1/2c bread flour
• 1/2c corn flour
• 1/2c whole wheat flour
• 2T ground chia and flax seed

• 1/2c good, dark EVOO

In a large bowl, whisk together the first group of ingredients. Add the dry ingredients that have been stirred together.  Using a heavy spatula, mix everything together then drizzle with the EVOO. Switch to using your hands, and knead well for several minutes. When the oil is completely incorporated, just before it starts getting sticky, cover the bowl and let it rest in a warm area of your kitchen for 45 minutes.

Kneed the dough again then transfer it to a flat surface and divide it into 3 equal loaves. Flatten, knead a while, then shape into your loaves. Long, round or more standard loaf shape. Drop each into rapidly boiling water, and gently keep them moving for 2 minutes.

Transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Cover with another baking pan so nothing touches the loaves, and let them rest and rise another 20 minutes. Cut slits in the tops of the loaves and sprinkle with seeds, rolled oats, or Everything Bagel Seasoning. 

←(note: My loaves look terrible 😟 I did this before the final 20 minute rest and rise, which was a mistake. I edited the instructions to reflect this. Do the cuts and sprinkle seeds on top just as you're putting them in the oven.)

Bake at 400° for 25-30 minutes. Transfer the loaves to a cooling rack for an hour before breaking or slicing. These are not big, tall, fluffy loaves. For those you need to go with just regular flour. These are flat loaves but they're good and healthy too.

Mmmmm. . .nothing quite equals the scent of healthy-grainy bread baking in your kitchen! . .Lin