Bread Machine (58 page)
The American Food Guide Pyramid was developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1992. It was later streamlined to reflect a worldwide perspective. Food pyramids have also been developed based on other traditional diets around the world, such as Asian, Latin American, and Mediterranean. The Third International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition added a Vegetarian Food Guide Pyramid. All these pyramids place whole grain bread and pasta, beans, nuts, and tubers at the wide base for optimum health and sensible eating patterns. The pyramids recommend eating six to eleven servings of grain products per day—as many of them as possible unrefined, unprocessed, and unhulled whole grains—in cereals, pastas, and breads.
Starchy grains make us feel satisfied and well fed. As complex carbohydrates, grains are ready fuel for the body and are chemically built of chains of glucose, a necessary energy source for the brain, nervous system, and muscle functions. The breads made from whole grains meld well with the newly labeled “super foods”: olive oil, fresh herbs, lemons, garlic, and yogurt—foods that contribute to optimum health.
Once the domain of a minority of health-conscious folks, many people are now becoming more interested in using a wide variety of whole-grain flours, and super market selections are growing to accommodate them. Baking your own bread is the perfect way to incorporate good nutrition into your diet naturally.
I
have found that breads that use a small percentage of buckwheat flour along with wheat flours have wide appeal and wonderful flavor. Here the buckwheat is paired with millet. You will find this a scrumptious toasting bread, and a wonderful bread for sandwiches filled with Swiss or white American cheese and turkey or Black Forest ham.
1
1
/
2
-POUND LOAF
1
1
/
8
cups water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons dark honey
2
2
/
3
cups bread flour
1
/
3
cup light buckwheat flour
1
/
3
cup whole millet
1 tablespoon gluten
1
1
/
2
teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons SAF yeast or 2
1
/
2
teaspoons bread machine yeast
2-POUND LOAF
1
1
/
2
cups water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 tablespoons dark honey
3
1
/
2
cups bread flour
1
/
2
cup light buckwheat flour
1
/
2
cup whole millet
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon gluten
2 teaspoons salt
2
1
/
2
teaspoons SAF yeast or 1 tablespoon bread machine yeast
Place all the ingredients in the pan according to the order in the manufacturer’s instructions. Set crust on dark and program for the Basic cycle; press Start. (This recipe is not suitable for use with the Delay Timer.)
When the baking cycle ends, immediately remove the bread from the pan and place it on a rack. Let cool to room temperature before slicing.
C
hestnut flour is often in a package labeled
farina di castagne,
as it is imported from Italy. It is one of my favorite specialty flours and I look for any opportunity to use it. The fine flour is like silk—I think it could have been used for powdering royal faces for court appearances a few hundred years ago. The character of this dough will reflect the chestnut flour you use—light and nutty or dark and smoky, depending on how the chestnuts were dried before they were ground into flour. After you’ve eaten your fill of this bread when it’s fresh, try using it for French toast or in bread pudding.
1
1
/
2
-POUND LOAF
7
/
8
cup fat-free milk
1 large egg
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, cut into pieces
2
1
/
2
cups bread flour
1
/
2
cup chestnut flour
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons minced pecans
1 tablespoon gluten
1
1
/
2
teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons SAF yeast or 2
1
/
2
teaspoons bread machine yeast
2-POUND LOAF
1
1
/
8
cups fat-free milk
1 large egg
4 tablespoons butter or margarine, cut into pieces
3
1
/
4
cups bread flour
3
/
4
cup chestnut flour
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons minced pecans
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon gluten
2 teaspoons salt
2
1
/
2
teaspoons SAF yeast or 1 tablespoon bread machine yeast
Place all the ingredients in the pan according to the order in the manufacturer’s instructions. Set crust on medium or dark and program for the Basic cycle; press Start. (This recipe is not suitable for use with the Delay Timer.) The dough ball will be moist and springy.
When the baking cycle ends, immediately remove the bread from the pan and place it on a rack. Let cool to room temperature before slicing.
T
his bread combines two Italian flours, chestnut flour ground from the fruits of the chestnut trees that grow outside of Rome, and northern Italian coarsely ground cornmeal, known as polenta. Stone-ground yellow cornmeal may be substituted for polenta. It gives a nice underlying texture to this compact, moist loaf. This is a nice bread with which to make a “black-eyed Susan” for breakfast—a slice of bread that has had an “eye” cut out of its center (with the rim of a glass) and an egg cooked right in the middle of it.
1
1
/
2
-POUND LOAF
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk
3 tablespoons dark honey
3 tablespoons olive oil
2
1
/
3
cups bread flour
1
/
2
cup chestnut flour
1
/
3
cup polenta
1
1
/
2
tablespoons gluten
1
1
/
2
teaspoons salt
2
1
/
4
teaspoons SAF yeast or 2
3
/
4
teaspoons bread machine yeast
2-POUND LOAF