“Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself…”
~ Paramahansa Yogananda
grandpas, wings and angels – Jaffa, Israel
I have been making it often since discovering this bread from Amy Chaplin’s ‘At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen. It is unique because it doesn’t feel heavy to digest and has a slight sourdough taste. The original recipe uses brown rice and sweet rice. As I didn’t have sweet rice, I used amaranth, which has a sweet and nutty flavour and the same sticky quality as sweet rice when cooked.
‘ The dough needs to ferment at room temperature for 14 hours. I like to make the mixture at 5 p.m., continue the process at 7 a.m., and enjoy the bread by 10 a.m. The recipe is pretty forgiving, so don’t worry if you’re slightly off with the timing.’ – Amy Chaplin.
sesame-crusted brown rice spelt bread
Recipe from At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen.
Makes one 12-inch loaf (the longer loaf pan creates a less crumbly loaf when slicing)
ingredients
2½ cups/300g whole-spelt flour or sprouted spelt flour
½ cup/135g organic cornmeal (can use polenta)
½ tsp instant yeast
1½ tsp fine Himalayan salt
1½ cups warm filtered water
1 tsp unrefined sesame oil or coconut oil, for oiling the bread pan
2 cups/405g cooked round brown rice and amaranth (raw measures: ½ cup/100g brown rice and ¼ cup/50g amaranth, preferably soaked overnight.)
¼ cup/35g unhulled sesame seeds – divided
ferment
- Combine spelt flour, cornmeal, yeast, and salt in a medium bowl. Add water and mix until combined. The dough will be sticky and quite wet.
- Cover the bowl with a plastic bag secured with a rubber band or plastic wrap and allow it to sit at room temperature (70F/21C) for 14 hours.
rice and amaranth
- Place the rinsed, soaked brown rice and amaranth in a small saucepan with 1½ cups water (add 4 more tablespoons if not soaked overnight) and simmer covered until cooked. Set aside to cool completely.
assemble
- Brush loaf pan with oil and remove plastic from the bowl (save it for covering the bread again); measure 2 cups/405g cooked brown rice and amaranth, and add half the sesame seeds to the dough, then with your hands, mix together the rice and seeds.
- Sprinkle some of the leftover seeds into the loaf pan; they should stick to the sides and bottom. Leave some for sprinkling over the top.
- Place the dough in the oiled pan and press lightly to distribute evenly. Sprinkle the top with the remaining sesame seeds and cover it with the reserved plastic wrap. Place it in a draft-free place to rise for 1 hour. After 30 minutes, preheat oven to 350F/180C.
bake
- Bake the bread for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a crust has formed and the bread sounds hollow when tapped. Allow to cool, then remove bread from pan.
This bread is simply delicious with good quality olive oil, a sprinkling of salt, a few rounds of freshly ground pepper, and spring greens—compliments from the garden! Enjoy with your loved ones.
Goodness shared from Stacey
