Friday, April 30, 2010

Whole Grain Baking: A Review

Well, the day has finally arrived.  My Sue Gregg review is due.  And I had to come face to face with grinding that sprouted grain and using it to bake bread. 

image (Click the book to download a pdf of PART of the book.)

Through this experience I learned that some whole foods cooking, particularly baking nutritious breads, takes more patience and time than others.  And by far, this process in particular took me a very long time to procure results. 

Sadly, my results weren’t that great.  But don’t think that is Sue Gregg’s fault.  (She even gives some tips and tricks in the book.)  I am used to my simplified method of baking bread, having given up how I used to make bread each week. 

Not having spoken with Sue Gregg, I am not going to give you the recipe that I used, but I will show you the steps in order.

Step One:  Proofing

sprouted bread 003

Step Two:  Grinding of Sprouted Grain

sprouted bread 004 

sprouted bread 006(I decided that I like grinding sprouted grain better.) 

Step 3:  Blend liquid ingredients in mixing bowl

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Step 4:  Mix flour with yeast mixture

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Step 5:  Knead for 20 minutes

  sprouted bread 010(I cheated and used my stationery mixer.)

Step 6:  1st Rise – about 1-1 1/2 hours

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After the prescribed length of time . . . my dough had hardly risen, though I had kept it in a warm location.

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Step 7:  2nd rise – about 45 minutes.  So I left the dough to sit in the microwave the rest of the day.

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Step 8:  Punch the dough and let it rest.  I skipped this because we needed to eat dinner. 

Step 9:  Shape dough and bake.  We opted to split the dough in half.  I made one loaf of bread and dinner rolls.

asparagus soup 004 asparagus soup 006

The rolls tasted much better than the bread . . . which was dry and somewhat hard.  I’m not going to give up on this bread making from scratch, but I definitely need to devote another  day at home the next time I attempt to grow some bread again!   

We did make something super, duper yummy . . .  and I have made these Cinnamon Scones multiple times.   

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What I love about Sue Gregg’s cookbooks are the bountiful amounts of information contained in each book, both spiritually and nutritionally.  Reading her cookbook is education, Julia Child, and a Bible Study all in one. 

For more Sue Gregg reviews, visit The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew Review blog.   And stay tuned . . . I’m going to be showing you a bunch of things that we made from Sue Gregg’s Meals In Minutes cookbook. 

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