Read Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients Online

Authors: Zoe Francois,Jeff Hertzberg MD

Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients (22 page)

Sweet Potato and Spelt Bread

Aside from sweet potato’s marvelous nutritional content, it is sweet, delicious, and adds gorgeous bright orange flecks throughout this loaf. Working on this bread was our wonderful introduction to spelt flour, an ancient grain whose flavor and texture seem to improve everything we tried it in.

Makes enough dough for at least four 1-pound loaves. The recipe is easily doubled or halved. Any leftover dough can be made into buns.

4 cups spelt flour

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1½ tablespoons granulated yeast, or 2 packets (
decrease to taste
)

1 tablespoon kosher salt (
increase or decrease to taste
)

¼ cup vital wheat gluten

3¼ cups lukewarm water

1 large sweet potato, skin on, cleaned and coarsely shredded (3½ cups, packed)

LEAVE THE SKIN ON YOUR SWEET POTATOES:
Leaving the skin on ratchets up the fiber in this recipe, but even the soft flesh of the sweet potato is loaded with nutrition. It’s a striking source of magnesium and potassium, plus vitamins A and E. Vitamin E is the powerful antioxidant vitamin that works with vitamin C in your diet to round up free radicals and rid them from your body.

1. Mixing and storing the dough:
Whisk together the flours, yeast, salt, and vital wheat gluten in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

2.
Add the water and sweet potato and mix without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle). You might need to use wet hands to get the last bit of flour to incorporate if you’re not using a machine.

3.
Cover (not airtight), and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

4.
The dough can be used immediately after its initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate it in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 7 days. The flavor will be best if you wait for at least 24 hours of refrigeration.

5. On baking day,
dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece. Dust with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

6.
Elongate the ball into a narrow oval. Allow the loaf to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, on a pizza peel prepared with cornmeal or lined with parchment for 90 minutes (40 minutes if you’re using fresh, unrefrigerated dough). Alternatively, you can rest the loaf on a silicone mat or a greased cookie sheet without using a pizza peel.

7. Thirty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450°F,
with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. Place an empty metal broiler tray on any other rack that won’t interfere with the rising bread.

8.
Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the top crust with water. Slash the loaf diagonally with ¼-inch-deep parallel cuts, using a serrated bread knife.

9.
Slide the loaf directly onto the hot stone (or place the silicone mat or cookie sheet on the stone if you used one). Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray, and quickly close the oven door (see
Chapter 3
for steam alternatives). Bake for about 30 minutes, until richly browned and firm. If you used parchment paper, a silicone mat, or a cookie sheet under the loaf, carefully remove it two-thirds of the way through baking and bake the loaf directly on the stone or an oven rack. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in resting and baking time.

10.
Allow the bread to cool on a rack before slicing and eating.

Red Beet Buns

These are beautiful bright buns, with a crimson crust and a crumb flecked with red. The sweetness of beets adds a wonderful flavor, and the color is glorious (see
photo above
).

Makes enough dough for five batches of 8 buns (40 total)

2 cups white whole wheat flour

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3 cups spelt flour

1½ tablespoons granulated yeast, or 2 packets (
decrease to taste
)

1 tablespoon kosher salt (
increase or decrease to taste
)

¼ cup vital wheat gluten

3¼ cups lukewarm water

3 cups finely shredded peeled raw beets

½ white onion, finely chopped

BEETS:
The root’s deep red color comes from beta-cyanin, but this is more than a pretty face. The pigment may help prevent cell mutations that can cause cancer. They’re also a rich source of folic acid.

1. Mixing and storing the dough:
Whisk together the flours, yeast, salt, and vital wheat gluten in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

2.
Add the water, beets, and onion and mix without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle). You might need to use wet hands to get the last bit of flour to incorporate if you’re not using a machine.

3.
Cover (not airtight), and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

4.
The dough can be used immediately after its initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate it in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days. The flavor will be best if you wait for at least 24 hours of refrigeration.

5. On baking day,
dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

6. To form the buns:
Divide the ball into 8 roughly equal portions (each about the size of a golf ball). Shape each one into a smooth ball. Allow them to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper for 40 minutes (20 minutes if you’re using fresh, unrefrigerated dough). Alternatively, you can rest the buns on a silicone mat–lined cookie sheet or a greased cookie sheet.

7. Thirty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450°F,
with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. Place an empty metal broiler tray on any other shelf that won’t interfere with the rising buns.

8.
Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the top crusts with water.

9.
Slide the cookie sheet directly onto the hot stone. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray, and quickly close the oven door (see
Chapter 3
for steam alternatives). Bake for about 20 minutes, until richly browned and firm.

10.
Allow the buns to cool on a rack before eating.

Stuffed “Sandwich” Loaf

In our constant attempt to find things for children to bring to school for lunch, we developed a bread with the filling rolled right into the dough. Here are three of our favorite combinations—you should let your imagination run wild and come up with your own versions, to suit your taste.

Makes one 2-pound loaf

Use any lean or enriched dough to your liking

1 pound (grapefruit-size portion) of any pre-mixed dough listed above

The Roasted Vegetable and Chèvre Filling

1 bell pepper or 1 jarred roasted pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 ounces portobello mushrooms, sliced 1/8 inch thick

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

4 artichoke hearts, canned or jarred marinated, thinly sliced

6 ounces of
chèvre
(goat) cheese

1. Preparing the vegetables
: If grilling your own pepper, cut the pepper into quarters and then flatten the pieces, making additional cuts as needed to flatten. Grill the pepper on a gas or charcoal grill, with the skin side closest to the heat source, or place it under the broiler. Check often and remove it when the skin is blackened, about 10 minutes or more, depending on the heat source.

2.
Drop the roasted pieces into a bowl or pot and cover. The skin will loosen by steaming in its own heat and moisture for 10 minutes.

3.
Gently hand-peel the pepper and discard the blackened skin; it’s fine if some dark bits adhere to the pepper’s flesh.

4.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the portobello mushrooms and sauté them until wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

5.
Lightly grease an 8½ × 4 ½-inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

6.
With a rolling pin, roll the dough out until it is a ¼-inch-thick rectangle. As you roll out the dough, use enough flour to prevent it from sticking to the work surface but not so much as to make the dough dry.

7.
Spread the roasted pepper, sautéed mushroom mixture, artichoke hearts, and
chèvre
over the rolled-out dough. Leave a border all around the edge. Roll the dough into a log, starting at the short end. Using wet hands, crimp the ends shut and tuck them under. Place the log in the loaf pan and allow it to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 90 minutes (40 minutes if you’re using fresh unrefrigerated dough).

8. Thirty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350°F,
with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. If you’re not using a stone in the oven, a 5-minute preheat is adequate.

9.
Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the top crust with water.

10.
Slide the loaf directly onto the hot stone or on a rack near the middle of the oven. Bake for about 50 to 60 minutes, until deeply browned and firm. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in resting and baking time.

11.
Remove the bread from the pan and allow it to cool before slicing and eating.

VARIATIONS

Spinach, Feta, and Turkey Filling

2 cups fresh whole spinach leaves, loosely packed

4 ounces crumbled feta cheese

4 to 6 slices thinly sliced cooked turkey breast

Ham, Emmental Cheese, and Sautéed Cabbage Filling

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups cabbage, shredded

4 to 6 slices thinly sliced ham

6 ounces grated Emmental cheese

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard

To prepare the cabbage:
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the cabbage and sauté it until wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cool slightly before rolling into the dough.

Turkish Pear Coffee Bread

This is a very unusual bread with some unlikely ingredients: pear puree and ground coffee (which turns out to have plenty of antioxidants, see the
Chocolate Espresso Bread sidebar
). We were dubious about ground coffee in a bread, but its slightly bitter and delicious flavor, combined with the juicy pears, sweet spices, and brown sugar add up to a bread even our kids love. There’s not much caffeine in each slice—the entire four-loaf batch has the equivalent of two cups of coffee, but it can also be made with decaf.

Turkish Pear Coffee Bread has a tendency to spread sideways, so don’t be surprised if your bread looks more flat than tall.

Makes enough dough for at least four 1-pound loaves. The recipe is easily doubled or halved. Any leftover dough can be made into buns.

¼ cup whole wheat flour

6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons ground coffee beans (regular grind)

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

¼ cup brown sugar

1½ tablespoons granulated yeast, or 2 packets

1 tablespoon kosher salt (
increase or decrease to taste
)

¼ cup vital wheat gluten

3 ripe pears, cored and pureed with skin, or six canned pear halves, pureed

1 cup lukewarm water