Rustic Flax Bread

This week, I made a loaf of no-knead bread, this time with added flax meal.  I also cooked it in a ceramic dish rather than my trusty steel pot.

The texture was like most no-knead breads: moist, full of bubbles, with a chewy crust.  I liked the added flax because it tasted rich and nutty.  It's also good for you (although some of that goodness is destroyed at the high temps).  The recipe is something like this:

2 1/4 c flour
1/4 tsp yeast
1/4 c flax meal
1 1/2 tsp salt

Mix this together, then stir in 1 1/2 c water.  Let sit over night or at least 12 hours.  Then add:

1/2 to 1 cup of flour to form a very soft but not too sticky dough.  You won't really knead it at this point, just form a workable dough.  Shape into a ball and let rise in a greased bowl for about 2 hours.  Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 450 F with your greased (and cornmealed if you like) baking dish in thar.  After your dough is done rising and the oven is preheated, take out the hot baking dish and dump the dough ball in there, gently.  Put the lid on the baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the dish and bake for another 15 to get that shiny pretty crust.

While the casserole baking dish made a much more useful shape (in my opinion) than the typical big round loaf, it didn't give it the nice crispy bottom crust that my steel pot does.  Obviously what I need is a hybrid.  If Irvine had thrift stores, I'm sure the ideal dish would be found there.

Giant Breads

This is a post about giant breads.  The first is this giant focaccia that the boy made.  It was incredible tasty--I think he used the recipe from the Joy of Vegan Baking, adding roasted garlic and some Italian herbs.  It was dense and tender and all the things that focaccia should be.

This is also a post about giant sourdough.  I tried to make sourdough with "wild yeast."  I was skeptical, but I made a starter and it started to get sour smelling and bubbly, so I figured it would go okay.

The first sponge:

Bubbles are a good sign.  However, the dough did not rise very well in the oven and produced a clay-like loaf that nevertheless tasted wonderfully sour.

After a few slices, I tore up the loaf and am saving it for thickening soups or laying bricks.

Desperate for some fresh bread, I took the remaining starter and made a dough...this time cheating by adding a packet of active yeast.  The result was a giant goddamned loaf of bread:

This picture doesn't really put it into perspective.  Let's try again.

It was delicious and tender, but it was also not very sour.  In fact, it only had the slightest hint of sour.  Next time, I will try using an Alton Brown recipe...  But for now it's time for a break.  I don't think I can handle so many consecutive sourdough failures.

Banana Rum Bread Pudding

6 or so slices whole wheat bread

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 large, very ripe bananas

1 c nondairy milk (I used almond milk)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

pinch of cloves

1/4 tsp salt

1 c brown sugar

1 T cornstarch

1 shot spiced rum (or more, I won't judge)

Mash the bananas in a large bowl, then mix in everything but the bread and walnuts.  Add the walnuts and bread, making sure to coat all of the bread with liquid.  Let sit as you preheat the oven to 350 degrees and oil a loaf pan.  Add the pudding mixture to the loaf pan.  Bake for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for at least an hour before serving so that it has time to firm.

If you didn't want to booze up the pudding, you could omit the rum or substitute apple cider.

The dude ate it with cookie dough coconut milk ice cream.  Whatever, man.