Quick Whole Grain Bread

3c all purpose, unbleached flour

1/2c whole wheat flour

1/2c corn flour

2T ground flax seed

2t each: sugar, yeast, salt

Whisk these together. Pour in 2c warm water. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine the dry ingredients with the water. Cover and put in a warm place, away from drafts, for 2 hours or until doubled in size.

Butter two glass 1-qt. mixing bowls, or one large glass bowl for round loaves, or use glass loaf pans. Transfer the 'dough,' which will be more like a doughy batter, to the baking pan(s). Put these in a warm place another half hour or hour until the loaf/loaves rise again. Drizzle the top with EVOO and sprinkle on some Everything Bagel Seasoning before baking at 375° 30-45 minutes, or until nicely browned on all sides. Cool several hours before removing from the baking bowls, or loaf pans, and slicing. This has a nice texture, similar to sourdough bread, without the tangy flavor. . .Lin

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

Avocado Toast

1T mayonnaise

1t finely snipped chives

fresh ground garlic salt

cayenne-black pepper

½ barely ripe avocado

1 lg. rectangular piece of sunflower seed bread*

The avocado I used today is prefect for me, but not as ripe as usual for spreading, so I couldn't mash it and combine those first 5 ingredients.  Instead I mixed the first 4 together in a small bowl.  Cut the bread into 2 smaller squares and toasted them.  Spread the mayo mixture on the toast then add thinly sliced avocado.  The tomatoes and Cherry Kool-Aid Pickles finished this off just great!  The total calorie count for this breakfast was around 475. . .Lin  *Pumpernickel and Whole Rye are also available at Aldi grocery stores.