Currently cooking from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce
No more cookies.
Well, not for a little while.
And definitely no more cakes, especially ones that have more than 1 layer in them.
I’m moving on to my next book, Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce. As the name implies, this book is all about baking with whole grains, from Kamut flour to quinoa flour to spelt flour. I’m excited to experiment with different flours, and I hope to find some new favorites.
The first recipe out of this book had to fit two criteria. First, it couldn’t be a cookie or cake. Secondly, it couldn’t be sweet. I’m over sweet, after overdosing on the last two books.
I expect this no-sweet thing to last for about 24 hours, after which I’ll be munching on chocolate chips.
So, bread. Specifically, Kamut challah bread. Kamut (pronounced ka-MOOT) is a type of wheat that traces its ancestry back to emmer, a grain grown thousands of years ago. Kamut flour is very mild, with a fine texture. According to Boyce’s notes, Kamut goes especially well with recipes that contain lots of butter. You can find Kamut in the health food section of grocery stores and sometimes in the bulk aisle.
This isn’t the first time I’ve played around with Kamut; remember that Kamut pound cake? Well, this bread was even better.
You start off by making a sponge of yeast, milk, honey, Kamut flour and millet flour. A sponge is basically a really wet dough that sits around developing flavor. In this case, you let the sponge sit for about 30 minutes, then you mix in the rest of the ingredients, which are all-purpose flour, eggs, salt and butter. The dough in kneaded until it is silky smooth and soft. After a couple of risings, the dough is braided and baked.
The finished bread had a soft, tender crumb. The flavor was very buttery thanks to the Kamut flour and butter. If I hadn’t known about the Kamut flour, I probably couldn’t have told you what was different. Like most challah, this loaf was best the day I made it, and it started to dry out pretty quickly. It makes marvelous toast, though, especially if you happen to have homemade peach freezer jam . . .
I actually made this bread a couple of time way back when I was laid off from work and it is so good with a pot of stew.
This looks like an interesting book to take a look at. Tried making Italian Baguettes the other day but they were a little dense. Maybe not enough yeast or wrong flour. Used the white whole wheat which may have been too dense. Will look into this book and try some of the things you try. Can’t go wrong with bread…it’s a good thing!
Challah is one of my favorites at the bread store. I have to limit myself since I tend to eat it like I do m&ms… one right after the other. It’s especially good with soup so right time of year to make it. I’ve never learned to make bread so I have to take your word on this. I’m sending it to my sister who is a wonderful bread maker and a Challah fan too.
I’m going to look for the book at the library!