Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Ballymaloe No-Knead Brown Bread

This recipe is from “a change of appetite:  where healthy meets delicious” by Diana Henry

Here is a review of the recipe from Grillou, a restaurant and inn  in the  Pyrénées 

“This really is a bread that needs no kneading, and starts with a dough that is so wet it couldn't be kneaded even if you tried. And it works, producing a glorious, moist, nutty and chewy loaf of the kind I've grieved for for years: this is the bread that I loved so much way back in the heady days of wholefood cafés and thick lentil soups and have been (unsuccessfully) trying to make ever since! It cuts beautifully with no crumbles, keeps happily for a couple of days then makes great toast, and is so satisfying that one slice, eaten slowly, is enough”

Makes 2 loaves of bread

Ingredients
Butter for greasing loaf pans
2T black molasses
3.5t dry yeast
3 – 3.5  cups warm water
8 cups wholemeal flour (I used 6 cups of whole wheat and 2 cups of rye)
2 teaspoons salt
2T sesame seeds

Directions
In a small mixing bowl, combine the molasses and yeast.
Add water and gently whisk to break up any lumps.
Allow about 10 minutes for the yeast to activate.

Grease two 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pans with the butter.

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt and make a well in the center of the mixture.
Add yeast mixture and 2 cups of water and mix gently until thoroughly combined.
It should be a wettish dough, but not so wet that it doesn’t come together.

Divide batter evenly between the two loaf pans.
Let rise in a warm place, loosely covered with a couple of cloths for about 30 minutes, or until the dough comes to the top of the pans (be careful not to let the loaves overproof).   
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sprinkle the loaves with sesame seeds

Bake loaves at 450 degrees for a total of 45-50 minutes.

FIRST, bake in pans for 30 minutes.

THEN, take the loaves out of their pans and put them on a shelf in the oven to finish cooking, for another 15-30 minutes.

When done, the outside of the loaves should by firm, and they should sound hollow when you tap the bottom.