Another Variation of the Soda Bread Theme

Just in time to experiment for St. Patrick's Day, coming up in a couple of weeks, I have tried out yet another Soda Bread.

Oat & Whole Wheat Soda Bread

Before ever trying to make soda bread, I had only ever heard negative comments on it. That it was very dry, or too heavy, or flat, or any number of other unfavorable comments. With that as its recommendation, why would anyone choose to make it?

And then, I got interested. I am ever curious about how things originated. What was the reasoning for making this kind of bread? Some years back, I decided to make soda bread, so I went online to search for information. In most places one sees soda bread recipes, either on TV or online, it is made with pure white, all-purpose flour, has eggs, sugar, butter, raisins and who knows how many other things in it. And I wondered . . .  Because Ireland had been a poor country, and sometimes subject to famine, why would this enriched type of "soda bread" be touted as their bread? I went searching online again, delving further, and was enlightened in oh, so many ways! Rather than go into all this again, and spend time up on my soapbox again, please refer to my first soda bread recipe, here, where I went into more detail on the whys behind the bread.

But in the meantime, over the past many years, I have been more and more interested in whole grains, nuts and seeds, and using them in breads of all description. I have always preferred whole, heavier and denser breads, though some of my tries and experiments nearly exceeded my own tolerances. There has been a learning curve in both making and eating. Also, I have learned that in many countries, where ovens were not at all common, barring a communal oven sometimes only fired up once a month, a yeasted bread was only made at that one time and had to last. Meaning, of course, that the bread dried out completely, and a saw was needed to cut off chunks, which were used as a thickening for soups and stews, as there was no way to have it safely eaten, hard as a rock as it was. With that knowledge, I wondered if something similar was done in Ireland? I got no real answer to that. But I did learn a lot more about soda bread.

Oat & Whole Wheat Soda Bread

Since that foray into all things to do with Irish Brown Bread, I have altered the recipe myriad times and in myriad ways. I have used freshly ground whole grain wheat, oats (whether old fashioned oats, minute oats or steel cut oats), whole grain barley flour, sprouted grain flour, rye flour and possibly others. Through all these recipes and experiments I have kept one constant: I use some all-purpose flour and some cake flour. Why, you might ask?

Oat & Whole Wheat Soda Bread

The reason the Irish went to a soda bread rather than a yeast-risen bread is that their flour was too "soft." Meaning their whole grain flour did not have sufficient gluten in the grains to allow the yeast to work. In this sense, cake flour is perhaps one of the "softest" of flours. Making bread with cake flour would likely be a catastrophe, though I have not tried it. My reasoning was that these flours would make the resultant mixture less suitable for yeast rising; conversely, more apt to work well with baking soda. I have no scientific basis for these statements, only my own experiences.

To date, my only concession to using eggs or butter in a supposed "soda bread," was when I tried to approximate the bread we ate at an Irish restaurant in Las Vegas, which was exceptionally good. I am happy to say I did make that one a few times, it is that good. I called it Whole Wheat Oatmeal Soda Bread. It is also the only soda bread I have made in a loaf pan, rather than as a freestanding loaf. Otherwise, any upstanding Irish person would likely have said, why waste butter IN the bread, when it was going to be used to put ON the bread when they ate it. Ever frugal, and the notion of wasting eggs in the bread or, horror or horrors, making the bread with beer, when it could have been used to drink, was unthinkable!

In an attempt to increase the use of oats, being one of my favorite of grains, I tried out another new recipe yesterday and it was delicious as well. And without any further ado, this is that recipe:

Oat & Wheat Soda Bread

Makes one loaf

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Have ready a heavy baking sheet lined with parchment.

Grind the steel cut oats (regular, long cooking variety) lightly in a blender or food processor.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the first 7 dry ingredients and whisk briefly to distribute the ingredients. Pour in most of the buttermilk and the molasses and stir, until it is no longer possible. Turn the mass out onto a greased surface and lightly "knead" (flatten, fold, turn, flatten, fold) two or three times to bring the mixture together. If the dough needs more liquid, add in the remaining buttermilk. If it is too wet, add in up to ¼-cup more of flour to firm up. Form the dough into a tight, high-domed ball and set onto the prepared parchment lined baking sheet. With a very sharp knife, cut an "X" across the top, at least 1-inch deep. This will flatten the loaf considerably from the little ball shape. Place in the oven and time for 50 to 55 minutes. Internal temperature should be at least 200 degrees. Allow to cool completely before cutting.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

A Love of Whole Grain Bread

Over the years, I have come to love whole grain breads more and more. I am even beginning to get my husband to at least tolerate or like them. So, when we were recently in Las Vegas, we happened upon an Irish Pub called "Ri Ra" and they served us a soda bread that was just so good I could hardly credit its flavor or moistness. My husband was quite taken with the bread also, and I asked about the recipe. The server said the chef would not divulge the recipe, but he said he knew for sure that they used whole grain wheat, rolled oats, honey and eggs.
 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Soda Bread

I took this as a personal challenge.

As soon as I got home, I attempted a loaf. It came out quite well, but we both felt it needed to be just a little sweeter, and from the photos I took of the bread at the Pub, mine definitely needed more oats. Back to the drawing board. 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Soda Bread

My second attempt, only a couple of days after making the first (if the first loaf wasn't perfect, neither was it inedible 😉), came out quite a bit better. I may, or may not do any more tweaking of the recipe, because this second loaf was quite lovely and very, very good. 

You have to like whole grains, for sure, but I do feel this is a loaf worth trying, most particularly if you have the ability to grind your own wheat. I am not sure it would be remotely as good if you bought pre-ground "whole wheat" flour. I have repeatedly found what a difference it makes to be able to grind my own wheat (or rye, or Kamut, or buckwheat, or anything else), versus buying pre-ground "whole-grain" flours. I put those words in quotes, because I have read that factories grind wheat into white flour, separating out all bran and germ, then only add back in what they estimate is needed to recreate a "whole-grain" flour for commercial sale. That really gripes me. While grinding my own grains at home means I will have a more "grainy" (pardon the pun) loaf, then so be it, but the flavor factor goes up by miles. 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Soda Bread

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Soda Bread

Makes one loaf 

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (85 grams)
1½ cups buttermilk (350 ml) 
2¼ cups whole wheat flour (300 grams)*
¼ cup all-purpose flour (33 grams)
2 teaspoons baking soda (15 grams)
½ teaspoon salt (3 grams)
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons honey (60 grams)
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter (42 grams)
1½ tablespoons flax seeds (18 g), optional
1½ tablespoons raw, hulled sunflower seeds (15 g), optional

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 x 2½-inch loaf pan.

Stir together the buttermilk and oats and set aside for about 15 minutes or so, while preparing the other ingredients. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt. Combine the melted butter and honey and add to the bowl, along with the buttermilk-oatmeal mixture and eggs. Stir until all dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake the loaf for approximately one hour, or until the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees, using an instant-read thermometer. Set the pan to cool for 10 minutes before turning the loaf out onto a rack to cool completely before slicing.

*Note: If desired, substitute ⅔ cup (50 g) white rye or plain all-purpose flour for part of the whole wheat flour. This would make the amount of whole wheat flour to be 250 grams.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

St Paddy's Day and Irish Brown Bread

Irish Brown Bread

I don't really celebrate St Paddy's Day myself, nor am I Irish. My eldest daughter chose that day to get married 20 years ago, and so that remains a cause for celebration, but not because of the Irish sense of it. I rarely remember to wear green, and do not have much of anything green to wear, even should I choose to do so.

 
Still. While Irish is nowhere in my own heritage, my husband does have Irish in his ancestry. He pays no more attention to St Paddy's Day than I do; probably less. Green is a color he probably wouldn't be caught dead in anyway. As for food, well, when attending Gaelic festivals, he will eat lamb stew. He does not drink beer. At all, ever. He'd probably be thrown out of Ireland for that heresy. Just being facetious here.

What I am getting at is that in all my (almost) 65 years, I have never even once made anything specifically "Irish", whether for St Paddy's or any other time. Unless you count Irish Oatmeal ;-) When perusing my Facebook feed a few days ago, I saw a recipe for Irish Brown Bread, something I have never tried before. I did eat what was supposedly Irish Soda Bread a couple of years ago at the local Gaelic Festival, with some lamb stew, but while it was good, having never looked at a recipe, I really had no idea what went in it (besides baking soda). And there began my search.

My Irish Brown Bread, sliced and buttered

Search, and Research

When I look into a new recipe, and more particularly if it is a specific ethnic food, I like to find out what I can about where it came from, why it is made that way and what the most authentic recipe might be. On that research I base any ideas of my own. The recipe I saw on FB had whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, soda, salt, butter and buttermilk. Many recipes I saw online also had butter in the ingredients, and some had eggs. Some added honey, and some added sugar. Okay, but what is truly authentic, I wondered? I refined my search to "traditional" Irish Brown Bread and came up with actual Irish people's recipes. One was from Rachel Allen. But more to the point, I did learn a bit more about Irish Brown Bread or Soda Bread and why it is made as it is.

What I learned is that in Ireland, the flour that was available long ago was too "soft" (their words, not mine), or too low in gluten and did not work well with yeast to make a yeast risen bread. The flour available was mainly coarse whole grain, whether wheat, barley or oat. Soda was used as the leavening agent, but the bread itself was a simple thing: flour, soda and buttermilk. Even salt was optional. What was stated is that anything like butter, eggs or much less honey added to this bread is most absolutely not traditional Irish Brown Bread. The Irish would keep the butter to spread on the finished bread, not waste it in making the loaf. 

Having looked at and compared over 10 recipes, from the butter and egg types to the simple flour, soda and buttermilk varieties, I decided on a very slight deviation from the absolute basics. Based on the concept that the flour was not conducive to yeast use, I thought I would use mostly a slightly coarse grind of whole wheat, with a little all-purpose flour and an even lesser amount of cake flour to try and replicate a mixture that would be a poor mixture for yeast bread. The cake flour can be substituted with all-purpose flour, bringing that amount up to 1½ cups total. I did toast some wheat germ to add, as well as adding a little oatmeal. Other than that, I stayed within the basics. I did consider using some barley flour, but I will reserve that for the next try. My husband got me a wonderful grain mill not long ago, so making some barley flour will be a fun experiment. For now, this is what I did to make my version of Irish Brown Bread, which I will be serving with my Irish Lamb Stew tomorrow.

Irish Brown Bread sliced

Irish Brown Bread

Makes 1 loaf

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cake flour (or use all-purpose)
½ cup wheat germ, lightly toasted
½ cup rolled oats
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside. In a large mixing bowl stir together all the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and pour in all the buttermilk. Stir in the center, gradually incorporating all the dry ingredients, until no dry remains. Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and "knead" gently by patting out the dough, folding it in half, flattening and folding, about 8 to 10 times. Form into a round loaf approximately 9-inches in diameter and 1½ inches high. Cut a large "X" across the top. Bake the loaf for about 45 to 50 minutes, until nicely golden and it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool on a rack.

Irish Brown Bread

The Verdict?

This loaf came out nice and brown with a great crust, moist in the center and a beautiful crumb. It is dense and filled with all that is good in wheat. This bread will pair extremely well with the Lamb Stew I will make tomorrow. I will be making this again, as I want to try it with barley flour. The recipe, as it stands, is fantastic!


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Chapatis are an Indian Version of Tortillas

Meaning to get to this blog days ago, I have been doing other things since returning from our trip. I made Lamb Korma last week and decided that while my husband is absolutely wild about Indian Naan bread, this time I was going to give a go with making Chapatis instead. I am not sure if he cared for them, truly. He said nothing at all. Still, I cannot completely go with making only what my husband will eat; it's just a little too prohibitive for my tastes. Sometimes I absolutely must try something that intrigues me.

Chapatis

Kamut® Khorasan

Kamut® Khorasan

Part of the reason I decided on something other than Naan Bread (apart from the fact that it is, by popular acclaim, the only bread accompaniment for Indian meals in my house), is that while on our trip, I stopped at The Whole Foods Market and found Kamut® Khorasan berries (triticum turgidum ssp. turanicum) in the bulk aisle! I have used Kamut® in past, as a flour that was a variation on regular wheat flour, and that so many are allergic to. It has been available in flour form for quite some time. Kamut® Khorasan is an ancient strain of wheat, along with another called "Emmer". These two tetraploid strains have 28 chromosomes instead of the 42 found in our hexaploid strain of durum wheat of today. Kamut® Khorasan berries are nearly twice the size of our modern wheat berries. When I bought Kamut® flour in past, I thought that Kamut® was the name of the type of wheat, but was in error. The name of this grain is actually Khorasan, referring to a historical region in modern Afghanistan and northern Iraq. The title of "Kamut®" Khorasan was given later by two brothers in Montana. Growing this strain of wheat in hopes of preserving the strain cleanly, they registered the name of Kamut.

Side by Side Size comparison of the grains

So, I bought about a pound or so of the whole Kamut® Khorasan berries and had no particular plan for how to use them. In reading about both the Kamut® itself and recipes for Chapatis, these flat bread recipes call for a whole grain flour. Kamut® has a lovely nutty, buttery flavor and has far less bitterness than our modern wheat. Since Chapatis are made with whole grain flour, and since Afghanistan and Iraq are setting just above India (Northern Indian cuisine has much influence from these areas), I felt that possibly Kamut® Khorasan would be the perfect flour for these breads. To top it all off, my husband recently bought me a Wonder Mill grain mill, so this would make quick work of milling the Kamut® Khorasan berries.

Chapati recipes are all basically the same. Use a whole grain flour. Moisten it enough with water to be pliable but not wet. Knead it. Make Chapatis. The basic ratio of flour to liquid is identical everywhere I looked for comparison. The only technicality would be if you live in a very dry climate or a very humid climate, as this affects how much water will actually be needed. If you live in a humid place like Florida or Louisiana for example, your flour will already be more water saturated than if you live in Arizona. I live in neither of these places, but climate in the high plains is often dry. Add to that the heat running in the house for more than a month already, with temperatures already been dipping below zero regularly. Dry.

On to the Chapatis

As far as Indian breads go, there are quite a few types and styles. Even Naan, which is getting to be very well known, can be made as a yeast dough or may be leavened with simple baking powder. The store varieties are certainly not yeast breads, and most very closely resemble large, soft flatbreads or pitas without pockets. Chapatis are more similar to a flour tortilla, in that they are most basically a simple and unleavened, thin, flat cake, traditionally cooked on a flat griddle called a tava. At home a hot skillet works just fine. Other Indian breads are many. To name a few, there are rotis (similar to chapatis), parathas (larger, thicker, fried), puris (fried and puffed up) and papadums (crispy). Each of these is unleavened. The differences are in how they are made, thickness, size and texture. I hope to make parathas again sometime soon. I have made them in past and they turned out very well. (If any of these descriptions is in error, please pardon me. I have not a drop of Indian blood in me, but am endlessly fascinated with all things Indian).

Flour water & oil mixed    |    dough well kneaded    |    rested and cut in portions    |    dough rolled into 6 - 7-inch circles

It is most common to make all of these breads with whole grain flour, though some are made with white flour. The recipe's ratio of flour to water is 3 parts whole grain flour to 1 part water. Some recipes call for added oil or ghee; some do not. I added a little oil to my recipe. Some recipes call for mixing the ingredients and kneading briefly to combine, while some recipes call for kneading for longer periods of time. Longer kneading yields a more elastic dough, easily rolled and shaped without tearing. 

I spent some time here on the detail of using Kamut® Khorasan flour. Whole wheat flour may as easily be used. It is an option to leave the dough, once kneaded, for a minimum of an hour, and even better if it is left overnight, before proceeding to roll out the chapatis.

Chapatis

Chapatis

Makes 8 chapatis

1½ cups whole grain flour; wheat or Kamut® Khorasan
½ cup water
1 tablespoon of oil or ghee
more oil or ghee for cooking the chapatis

In a bowl, combine the flour and water, mixing to combine. Add the oil or ghee and blend in. Turn the mixture out onto a very lightly floured surface or an oiled surface. Knead the dough for at least 5 minutes; more ideally for about 9 minutes. This develops the gluten in the flour, making it easier to roll out and form the chapatis without tearing. Set the dough aside to rest, covered, for at least one hour, or longer if possible. If leaving to rest overnight, place the dough, well wrapped, in the refrigerator until ready to use.

dough circle just placed in hot pan | bubbles forming under the surface | flipped over and nearly done     

Cut the dough into 8 equal sized pieces. Roll each portion of dough into a smooth ball. Lightly flour a surface and roll the dough into a thin circle of about 6 or 7-inches diameter. Heat a skillet to medium heat. Add in a small amount of oil or ghee to the pan and place one of the circles of dough in the hot pan. Almost immediately it will begin to form bubbles. Turn the chapati to cook the opposite side once the first side has well browned spots, about 2 minutes. Once flipped over, the opposite side should also have nicely browned spots, about 1 minute longer. Remove to a towel lined container and continue to make each individual chapati in the same manner.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest. 

Poilane Style Miche - Another New Bread

Book Cover showing a Poilâne Style Miche

I have rarely been so excited about making bread as since I received a copy of Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. I know if anyone is following my blog, you might be sick of hearing about this book. It opened my eyes to an entirely different world of bread making. I began by making a starter dough from wild yeasts, then following with the starter dough from which would spring any other bread using this wild yeast type of starter.

My wild-yeast starter grew just exactly as the book described. The mother starter as well. I went on to make an Onion Deli Rye which was fantastic. Then I tried a 100% Sourdough Rye. I did add a tiny bit of yeast to help things along, as the weather at the time was awfully cold and the house, though heated, just felt cool. That bread, as well as the Sunflower Seed Rye, just didn't quite grow the way the book indicated. While I have nothing against, and sometimes even prefer a very dense bread, these two didn't quite look like the book's photos.

Challah, Sunflower Seed Rye, Deli Rye, 100% Sourdough Rye

Many times when I have "refreshed" the starter, it would take a very long time to recover and begin bubbling. Now that summer is very much here, and the house, even with air running, is much warmer, the starter has gone totally mad! My little wild yeasts are very happy indeed. The starter is growing amazingly quickly each time it is refreshed, so with that in mind, I decided to try making another bread, using only the wild yeast starter, with no addition of commercial yeast to boost the growth. This time I made the Poilâne-Style Miche.

Who is Poilâne and What the Heck is a Miche?

Okay, according to Peter Reinhart's book (as well as most any website out there), Lionel Poilâne is a bread baker of such repute that his "miche" (rustic sourdough whole wheat bread) is now just lovingly called "Pan Poilâne" (or Poilâne Bread). His recipe is simple: sourdough starter, whole wheat flour, Fleur de Sel de Guerande and water. Of course, Poilâne uses a wood fired oven for his huge 4-pound rustic miche loaves.

My Poilâne Style Miche

A "miche" as noted, is a rustic style of sourdough whole wheat bread. The size is generally very large at 4 or more pounds, as the loaves keep better this way. In olden days, there would be a communal oven and people would bring their breads to bake in the one oven; it would have to last them the week or longer until the oven was once again fired up.

Reinhart suggests dividing the dough into two or even three smaller loaves for home baking, as trying to manipulate 4 pounds of dough into the oven could be a task. I went farther and just divided the recipe itself in half. Reinhart gives no poundage weight for this recipe as he does for all his other recipes. Generally it is noted in a recipe that it will "make two 1-pound loaves" or something such. The recipe, cut in half as I made it, weighed 2 pounds. It was a majestic loaf, and I used my "banneton" or bread mold for the first time to give the loaf visual interest. Once the dough has risen, ready to bake, a Bread Lame is used to slash in a pound-sign or "hash-tag" type of pattern. Poilâne slashes his "Pans Poilâne" with a large script "P."  

My Poilâne-Style Miche

Poilânes "Pan Poilâne" or Miche (photo from website)

The first step in making this bread is making a "firm starter." Rather than a refreshed starter as usual, the firm starter requires more flour for a far stiffer dough. It is allowed to ferment at room temperature for a few hours, then placed in the refrigerator to retard (it's growth) overnight. This step brings out more flavors in the final dough. The starter grew amazingly quickly. I put it in the fridge, where it continued to grow, though more slowly. Next day I got out the starter and cut it into smaller pieces, leaving it to warm to room temp on the counter. Because of making half the normal recipe, I did use my Kitchen Aid mixer to do the kneading for me. I kneaded for a full 15 minutes, since it was made with whole wheat, which can make rising more difficult. It passed the "windowpane" test and was just one degree above where it was supposed to be.

After allowing the dough to rise for 4 hours and be shaped into a boule, or round loaf, the book gives the option of allowing the dough to rise in the pan and then turning out and baking, or just putting the shaped dough into the refrigerator once more overnight, to retard growth and add more flavor. Whole wheat bread can be blah, so I was all about more flavor. I formed the boule and set it into my well-floured banneton, covered it and refrigerated.

My Banneton or bread form

Mind you, I had started really early that morning with the initial intent of baking that day, only changing my mind and deciding to retard overnight as I was forming the bread. Later in the afternoon, when preparing for dinner, I opened the fridge to find my loaf fully risen! Yikes! I pulled it out, now at 4:30 in the afternoon. The book says that if it has been refrigerated, to allow 4 hours to come to room temperature and rise before baking. In one hour on the counter, the loaf was far above the edges of my 10-inch banneton. I heated the oven!

The only tricky part was getting the dough out of the banneton. I floured it heavily before placing the dough in. It came out reluctantly. There was a fair amount of deflation caused by this slow release from the mold. Still, after a few minutes it was very obviously recovering. I made the slashes over top of the pretty pattern from the bread mold and slid it onto my new oven stone.

Beautiful Crumb

The bread came out so beautifully. I nearly cried. It is a joy to behold. It tastes wonderful, particularly for a whole wheat loaf. I hope anyone out there who loves bread baking might attempt this recipe. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.