Straight from the Farm

 

Ye who are faint of heart, step aside.  Ye who love a hefty loaf of bread, come right this way!  If ever there was a bread recipe that could serve as the poster child Slow Food International, this Honey Multigrain Loaf is it.  And I mean that in the nicest way possible.  You see, this meal-in-and-of-itself loaf requires a little advanced planning and time, but it’s well worth it in the end when you’re slowly making your way through a chewy nutty slice of wholesomeness. 

I’m proud to say this recipe is an original creation of yours truly, but I can’t take all the credit.  A coworker and recent bread making convert had asked me to post a recipe for bread using sprouted grains or wheat berries or something with more “umph” than your typical off-the-shelf loaf.  Ironically, she actually beat me to the punch and adapted the Miracle Bread recipe to include wheat berries and chopped walnuts.  Yes, she’s a superstar SFTF pupil!  But by the time I tasted her lovely loaf, I was already too deep in my noodling process to call off the hunt for a really hearty bread recipe. 

Internet searches and endless page flipping in my private cookbook collection yielded very little, at least for bread recipes including wheat berries, which I knew I definitely wanted to use.  There is one age-old recipe out there for sprouted grain bread, called Ezekiel Bread for its supposed roots in biblical times.  But frankly, after reading over several recipes for it, I didn’t find the idea of it very appetizing.  The [fruitless] search continued.

What’s a bread baker to do when she can’t find the right recipe?  First, she takes out a piece of scrap paper, paces back and forth in front of her pantry shelves, and scribbles down a rough inventory of the grains on hand.  Next, she takes that same scribbled piece of paper, flips it over and starts scribbling rough measurements – ratios really – for the available grains.  Then, she decides on a general method for the bread, including proofing the yeast first and the best shape for the loaves. [By the way, proofing the yeast first was very fortuitous as the first three batches failed to show any signs of life, and it would be a real pain in the buttocks to have prepared the wheat berries and wheat germ only to have the bread not rise in the end.]  Finally, she has to find another piece of scrap paper and a pen she doesn’t mind getting covered in flour so she can take notes throughout the assembly process as she adjusts the amounts of this and that, depending on how forgiving the dough turns out to be. 

WA-lah!!  I would say though that I have a little more fine-tuning to do, most of which is reflected in the recipe below.  The honey wasn’t prominent enough so I upped it a bit.  And the wheat berries were just a touch too prominent so I downed them a bit.  And the alfalfa seeds were delightful so I tacked on another tablespoon.  Otherwise though, I wouldn’t change a thing and plan on making this honey multigrain loaf a regular visitor to our dinner table.  I think I’ll also use it for sandwiches in my packed lunches.  It’s so filling that I’ll surely not be hungry again until dinnertime rolls around (I have a chronic problem with getting the “munchies” around 3 o’clock every day). 

Now, a word to the wise for the newbie bread bakers out there: this loaf is a tad tricky to knead so if you’re not comfortable just yet with the kneading process, you might want to practice with a few of the other bread recipes on the blog first.  The dough is sticky, making it very tempting to keep adding flour to it.  Since there is so much “stuff” in the dough already demanding more moisture than normal, you really have to let it just be sticky so the resulting loaf doesn’t turn out disappointingly dry.  Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it! 

Oh, and I realize my grains inventory might have been a little more diverse than some folks’ might be.  If you’d like to adapt this recipe to what you have on hand, I’d strongly advise keeping the wheat berries for the chewy texture.   You can get them at Whole Foods, Wegmans, or other stores with a diverse selection of grains (they are often found in the bulk bins near the produce section). If you can’t find the wheat berries, a potentially good alternative would be spelt, although that may be equally scarce.  Trust me though; it’s worth hunting these ingredients out.   Otherwise, you can easily substitute different varieties of grains for what is listed in the recipe; just keep the ratios about the same (approximately 5 cups of flours to 2 cups of other stuff). 

And remember to chew slowly!  There’s a lot to be savored in a slice!

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I think I might have to officially declare today “Idiot Day”.  I can’t disclose the full details of why I’ve made this official declaration since it has to do with my professional life and apparently somewhere along the way someone coerced me into signing a document that said I wouldn’t blab on the internet anywhere about topics concerning my job.  I suppose this agreement is ultimately in my best interest too, so let’s just leave it at this: my day isn’t going so smoothly. 

But enough of that; my time is limited today.  Let’s move promptly along to a much more pleasant topic – making your own artisan crackers at home.  Crackers are, after all, a form of unleavened bread, so I thought I’d sneak them in here during our last Week of Bread together.  I got my inspiration from Rebecca over at New Old Fashioned Gal when she submitted the recipe to last week’s Carnival of Recipes: A Menu. 

 

The possibilities of these crackers are endless, since you could very well use a limitless combination of seasonings and probably not have to make the same kind twice for a year if you really put your mind to it.  You could also get fancy with the edges and shapes, using special cutting wheels and cookie cutters.  I see my next batch as being round with wavy edges…

So I mulled over my choice of seasonings for quite a few days before making my first foray into cracker crafting.   I settled on giving priority to some of my dried herbs from the farm on this first go-around since they really are the best seasonings in my pantry – superb flavor and quality.  To keep the dill and oregano company, and mostly because I somehow think everything is better in three’s, I threw in coarse black pepper at the last moment.  Boy, did that pepper make them pop! 

I don’t think these would necessarily make good soup crackers – I mean, they might, but why bother smothering them in soup unless it’s rather bland and needs a cracker with seasoning.  My bag was quickly consumed by scooping up soft goat cheese and just plain snacking while I watched – gasp – the Knight Rider network movie on NBC Sunday night.  It didn’t take a genius to know that piece of entertainment wasn’t going to offer any Emmy-winning performances, but I was blissful in my viewing with my nostalgia and homemade crackers to keep me amused.  

Sadly, I’m now all out of crackers.  It’s comforting to know - especially on a day like today - that when armed with a nearly idiot-proof recipe like this , I can easily make some more.  What combination of seasonings do you think you’d like to try first?

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Everybody ready?  It’s time for SFTF’s third and final Week of Bread.  Actually, I’m hoping I really can rein myself in to keep this to just one last week.  You know me and bread; can’t get enough of the stuff.  Luckily, if only for the sake of my hips, we’re not too far away from the start of the growing season so I can get back to recipes featuring fresh locally grown produce.  The baby bok choy seeds are already pushing up out of the soil in their trays in the greenhouse just four days after we planted them.  Talk about your “go-getters”! 

With the promise of a new season, it becomes a little easier to stop rationing the preserves I put aside for winter.  I have just a few cubes of frozen basil puree left, most of which I want to use in soup and pasta dishes. Since fresh basil is still a few months away, it might be brash to throw two more cubes into a second bread recipe (here’s the first recipe).  But I couldn’t help myself as I really wanted to try these Saffron Basil Breadsticks. 

Saffron is fascinating to me. It’s such a precious commodity, taken from the heart of beautiful crocus blossoms, with what I consider to be an effervescent earthy scent.  I realize not everyone enjoys a smell reminiscent of fresh cut hay as much as I do – I am a farm girl at heart after all.  But taking into account saffron’s history in which kings would send ships half way across the world to get it, paint pictures of it all over their palaces, and offer it to their gods, I’m obviously not a complete loon. 

Fortunately for those of us who aren’t kings and thus have no armadas of ships to fetch our spices, there’s the good old internet.  Buying saffron in bulk (and by “bulk” I simply mean getting more than a mere dozen overpriced strands) online makes this princely seasoning quite affordable for even a pauper.  I got mine here and love using it lavishly without a single guilty twinge for my wallet. 

Saffron and basil, with its peppery bright flavor, are happy companions in most any dish.  They elevate these breadsticks from simple pasta accompaniments to an item on the menu worth noting.  The recipe yields more breadsticks than any normal person, save for a party host, would need at one time.  I froze half of mine and look forward to pulling a half dozen out at a time to bake off and serve with a weeknight dinner fit for a king! 

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This morning, as I pedaled into work, I smelled a hint of spring on the breeze.  You know, that musty dirt kind of smell?  Considering it’s still just the middle of February, this scent seems a little preemptive.  A couple of us at a recent meeting about farm affairs joked that Philadelphia might be re-designated as part of Plant Hardiness Zone 9, a zone typically associated with Florida and Texas.  While I don’t think we’ve gone that far south just yet, global warming is no joke as it seems to be settling in for the long haul.   We can’t kid ourselves any longer that these mild winters are just a fluke.

I know we all enjoy the coming of spring and the sooner the better, generally speaking.  But without the cleansing freeze of a snowy blanket and many bitter cold nights, life cycles are bound to get wacky.  For one thing, disease and weeds in the soil will live to see another day, rather than succumbing to the big freeze.  This prospect is a daunting one indeed for the small organic farmer.  It’s nice to think of extended seasons that allow us to grow, and thus sell, more fresh produce, but I wonder if the price to be paid might be too high?  Although maybe it means more folks will get involved in the business of urban and sustainable farming if they don’t have to worry about long icy winters freezing them out of an income.  More urban farms would definitely be good, and with enough of them, we might even reverse the affects of global warming.  That would take more lifetimes than I have to live, of course, but it’s a real possibility.  

Oddly enough, all these thoughts flashed through my mind as I got that whiff of spring.  There were other thoughts that followed briefly before I had to stop myself from over-thinking the problem entirely too much.  I just barely started wondering if these would-be Zone 9 Pennsylvania farmers would then put themselves out of business by the year 2200 when global warming disappeared and winter once again claimed its turf.   That’s when I decided I’d better put the kibosh on my mental wanderings.  

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Remember that homemade dulce de leche from back in December?  It’s definitely been one of the most popular posts to date on this blog and for good reason.  I believe my exact description of it was “sweet-but-not-sugary-creamy-like-the-best-fudge-you’ve-ever-had-deep-richness-of-caramel-with-a-hint-of-vanilla-goodness.”   I’ve since truncated that to just two words: disturbingly delicious.   There was only one thing that could make it better.  C.h.o.c.o.l.a.t.e.

The other week I was in Cake, a local bakery in Chestnut Hill well known for their creative confections that has recently expanded to a beautiful atrium space and a breakfast/lunch menu, and couldn’t help but notice the Dulce de Leche Tarts in their display case.  I was so torn.  I wanted to try it, but I’d been salivating over the memory of the coconut cream tart I’d had the last time I was there and couldn’t quite bring myself to give up what I’d been anticipating.  The sight of those creamy caramel chocolate treats did get the wheels in my head turning though.  A recreation of those tarts, when made in the little heart pans I had at home, would be perfect for Valentine’s Day dessert.  A sweet heart for my sweetheart!  I’m such a cheesy romantic sometimes…

As happens so many times when I have a culinary inspiration, I had trouble finding an existing recipe that matched my specifications.  I wanted to chocolate crust for sure.  That wasn’t so hard to find other than I needed to decide if I was baking the tarts or not.  And since I already had the homemade dulce de leche prepared, I didn’t want a recipe that started with “1 can sweetened condensed milk” and went on from there with directions for boiling all the ingredients together to make what I consider to be an inferior dulce de leche tart filling.  I’ll spare you all the details of the hunt and skip to the end: I flew by the seat of my pants. 

Those must have been some very lucky pants!  The tarts are luscious, bordering on obscenely rich in the best of ways.  Mini tarts are the ticket to enjoyment here as any more than one would be too much.  Well, at least at the first sitting.  After an hour, it’s quite possible you’ll be having another. 

The final list of ingredients, as you’ll see after the jump, was really rather short, assuming you already have dulce de leche on hand.  I realize the special day is less than 24 hours away so making your own dulce de leche from scratch could be tricky.  Here’s my two cents about dulce de leche shortcuts (you can feel at liberty to disagree with me).  It can be made by boiling the contents of a can of sweetened condense milk in the microwave, on the stovetop, or in the oven.  All of these methods are much less labor intensive and somewhat less time consuming (the microwave is shockingly fast) than getting fresh whole milk, sugar and vanilla beans to cook down into a thick, rich, gooey caramel.  Shoot me for saying this if you will, but I contend that you shouldn’t even bother with these boiled-can methods. 

Instead, when in a pinch, head to a specialty food or kitchen store and buy a jar of it.   It pains me to say that since it goes against every fiber in my “make it yourself” body, but the stuff you buy will be of better quality than the boiled can since it started with fresh whole cow’s milk, the right proportion of sugar, and vanilla beans.  If you can’t find a jar of good quality dulce de leche for sale on short notice, use the condensed milk method, but promise me you’ll give the from-scratch method a try next time to see what you’re missing. Pretty please?? 

Time to get off the soapbox; the pictures alone should be more than enough to convey how divine this tart is.  If you don’t have a sweetheart to share it with, make it as a treat for yourself.  I spent many a year avoiding cupid cut-outs and the onslaught of rose deliveries that seemed to go to every door but mine.  Making the day sweet for myself was extremely gratifying once I realized I didn’t have to wait for somebody else to give me chocolate and flowers.  Livin’  la vida dulce! 

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