Carb-Lovers, Unite!
October 16, 2008 at 12:02 am | In Baking / Cooking, Food | 35 CommentsI, for one, can’t fathom a world without bread. The foundation of many meals, this most basic staple is something that can elevate a ho-hum meal into something really special. I love everything about it- The taste, the smell, the texture, the way it must be kneaded and the way it rises by it’s own accord. It may surprise you since I’m so fond of creating desserts, but if I could only specialize in one baked good for the rest of time, I would choose to make bread. Naturally, when I heard about the 3rd World Bread Day, I was chomping at the bit to start a fresh loaf rising. Easy as it is to create, it always seems to be much more difficult to simply decide what kind to make! Pressed for time as it was, I settled on the first recipe that appealed, which happened to be Dakota Seed Bread. Why “Dakota,” I have no idea, but the hearty mixture of wholesome grains, wheat germ, and seeds sounded like the perfect bread to build a satisfying meal around.
But you know me- I can’t leave well enough alone, and my bread ended up with almost nothing in common with the original recipe. Substituting forbidden rice instead of wild, pepitas instead of sunflower seeds, and white whole wheat flour for almost all of the flour, not to mention omitting the dry milk altogether, it was an entirely different animal than the writers of Bon Appétit had intended. I’ve gotta tell you though… It was incredible.
Sure, it’s hard to go wrong with fresh, homemade bread in general, but this stuff was irresistible. Toothsome from all the add-ins, soft and tender crumb, with a strong but not brittle crust wrapped around it all, it definitely ranks near the top of my favorite breads. While I had planned on saving it to toast for breakfasts to come… I must sheepishly admit that I ate nearly the whole thing still hot from the oven, right then and there.
The black rice is more of a focal point in my loaf, coloring the interior an unexpected purplish hue, so I decided to name my version accordingly.
Forbidden Seed Bread
Adapted from Bon Appétit’s Dakota Seed Bread
1/4 Cup Uncooked Black Rice
1 1/4 Cups Warm Water
1 Tablespoons Light Agave Nectar
1 1/2 Teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
2 Cups White Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 Cup Pepitas, Toasted
1/4 Cup Wheat Germ, Toasted
3/4 Teaspoon Salt
3/4 Cup Bread Flour
In a medium pot, bring 1/2 cup of water to a boil and add in the black rice. Cover, reduce heat all the way down to the lowest setting, and cook for 25 – 30 minutes until all of the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and let cool completely.
Mix together the warm water and agave, and sprinkle the yeast over it. Let sit until the yeast has reawakened and become frothy, and then add in the cooked rice, white whole wheat flour, pepitas, wheat germ, and salt. and honey in large bowl. Stir well to combine, and once there are no more dry patches, slowly add in the bread flour at little bit at a time. It will still be very sticky, but don’t worry about it- it’s a rather wet dough which makes it a moist loaf. Give it 15 minutes to rest before using a dough hook attachment to knead it in your mixer for 10 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl and drop the dough into it. Toss it to coat, cover with plastic, and stash it in the fridge overnight for better flavor, or leave it out in a warm place for 1 hour if you want your bread the same day.
When you’re ready to bake the bread, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease an 8 x 4 loaf pan.
Grab your dough, and turn it out onto a well-floured surface. Knead it briefly by hand, adding in more flour if necessary, and then press it out into a rough rectangle, keeping it the width of the loaf pan. Roll the rectangle up and drop it into the pan, seam-side down. Cover loosely with plastic for about 30 – 45 minutes, until it has risen to about the top of the pan. It’s a fairly short loaf in the end, so it won’t reach any great heights.
Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until evenly browned all over and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Give it 10 minutes before de-panning, and let cool on a wire rack. Try your hardest not to wolf it all down immediately!
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Oh it looks like it has a lot subastance in this bread.
Comment by peabody — October 16, 2008 #
Oh i love bread indeed!!! Great bread and I need to try to submit my bread for this important event, too!!!
Comment by Anh — October 16, 2008 #
Oooh, I am a carb lover! Ryan & I split a loaf of freshly baked bread on our walk home the other night- YUM!
Comment by melisser — October 16, 2008 #
I agree, bread would be the very last baked good I’d give up. It is my comfort food. This one looks so hearty and delicious!
Comment by Lily — October 16, 2008 #
This looks so great! I love breads like this.
Comment by JohnP — October 16, 2008 #
Haha, well when you’re gluten-free, you learn to look beyond bread sometimes ;0) LOOOOOVE that forbidden seed bread variety!! So enticing!!
Comment by VeggieGirl — October 16, 2008 #
Wow, I love the look of this bread and how there is black rice in it! I have some leftover black rice and I think I know what I will be doing with it now =)
Comment by Shelby — October 16, 2008 #
this sounds amazing, and looks even more amazing! mmmmmmmmmmmmm! black rice, pepitas, wheat germ – yes please!
hooray for world bread day – and today is also world food day! yay!
Comment by jessy — October 16, 2008 #
This looks fabulous!
Comment by Nicole — October 16, 2008 #
Hearty and full of good-for-you things! Looks wonderful. :)
Comment by Ricki — October 16, 2008 #
Who knew there was a world bread day?! I love it! Your loaf looks absolutely delicious, and I agree with you, I was a pastry apprentice for awhile, but I think I’d rather specialize in bread if given the choice. I’m going to have to try that recipe soon!
Comment by jes — October 16, 2008 #
Hooray to carbs! This bread is beautiful, Hannah! I love hearty grainy, seedy, nutty breads.
Comment by Vegannifer — October 16, 2008 #
Your bread looks so good! Have you seen this bread site? http://www.thefreshloaf.com/
Comment by Shirley — October 16, 2008 #
It’s always fabulous when your attempt to adapt something transforms into something better!
This looks as mouthwatering as it sounds… why do I never have bread flour on hand.
Comment by Veronica — October 16, 2008 #
I’m going to take a stab at it and say that the Dakota refers to the native american tribe from the upper midwest. Which includes Minnesota, and I assume the rice in this bread was originally wild rice. I’m from MN, and there are Dakota seed breads in a lot of the bread shops, and we’ll stick wild rice in anything; It’s great in breads.
Comment by nicole — October 16, 2008 #
If ever there was a beautiful loaf of bread, this is it! It looks delicious.
Comment by janet — October 16, 2008 #
I love it! And it’s gorgeous to boot!
I love the fact that it makes use of so many nourishing ingredients!
Comment by Lo (Burp!) — October 16, 2008 #
That looks fabulous. I used to get Dakota bread from the bakery that my husband worked at, it wasn’t vegan though do of course we don’t get it anymore (they love using honey in everything there)
Comment by bex — October 16, 2008 #
Oooo, looks so good. I need to get into the world of bread-baking!
Comment by Miss Marie — October 16, 2008 #
wow, that’s a neat experiment, using forbidden rice. What gave you that inspiration?
Comment by Nate — October 16, 2008 #
This sounds good. The forbidden rice is an interesting addition.
Comment by Kiersten — October 16, 2008 #
holy geez, this sounds right up my alley!!!!! but, um, i would do the same thing… so maybe i shouldn’t make it…
Comment by ttfn300 — October 16, 2008 #
oo That bread looks tasty! It looks like it has a great texture!
Comment by Rebecca — October 17, 2008 #
I kno within the next 6 months i’m going to be taking a breads class… I’ve never really been a bread eater to be honest. I eat grains all the time usually.. like rice…. rice and bread?! sounds good to me
Teddy :)
Comment by Teddy — October 17, 2008 #
I <3 carbs and bread!!!
Comment by Tina — October 17, 2008 #
“Dakota” seed bread might be called that because North Dakotas main crops are wheat and sunflowers. Not to mention we have our fair share of wild rice…
Comment by Erika — October 17, 2008 #
Isn’t this the coolest bread? I think it’s the first time I see a bread with black rice!
Comment by clumbsycookie — October 17, 2008 #
That’s an ineresting bread. i’m betting it was delicious. I saw the black rice and thought that it was going to have pieced of fig or raisin in it. Rice sounds yummy.
Comment by Bethany — October 17, 2008 #
the bread looks very interesting! i love the seeds and the rice add ins. thank god i am carb lover.
Comment by Gigi — October 18, 2008 #
Me too, I can’t leave a recipe as it comes. ;-) Your creation is awesome! I would like to have a piece right now.
Thx for your participation in WBD’08.
Comment by zorra — October 18, 2008 #
i love this use of the forbidden rice! I’ve never heard of a recipe that uses it in bread.
Comment by Jude — October 18, 2008 #
That looks gorgeous, I love bread too!
I often get weird looks off people in the supermarket when I walk around sniffing the loaves I just picked up!
Comment by Sal — October 18, 2008 #
This bread is wonderful! It is such a nice base for other grains too!!
The only disappontment I had ws it only maade 1 loaf. I’ve been spoiled by othe recipes makeing 2 loafs. I would total doube it next time.
There will be a next time !!! :D
Comment by Sydney — October 19, 2008 #
Now there’s a delicious loaf of bread!! How unique. I love eating bread but rarely make it. My arms can’t handle all the kneading and I get paranoid that I’m over or under kneading.
Comment by Ashley — October 22, 2008 #
yum! A recent experiment with the bread machine at my parents home inspired me to start looking at making my own bread. I started with something pretty simple – a bag of bread mix from Aldi, whose instructions were like “add water, bung in oven”. The end result was freshly baked rye sour bread, pretty damn tasty! Not bad for a couple of quid.
I’ve bought myself some dried yeast now, so I might be trying this one! As it sounds very exciting!!
yum!
Comment by Russ — October 25, 2008 #