How often do you bake bread? I know, it takes hours to rise, you have to plan in advance, your body can't process glutenous flours, it takes hours to rise, you have to plan in advance etc.
Yes, I know all those things, and can relate to them personally. I used to make this amazing no knead bread from Jim Lahey's bakery in the US, I bought his book, we also used to make his pizza dough, at least once a week, its a game changer...
Until, you find out your body really cant tolerate that much gluten or you go on a quest to answer the age old question regarding what we put into our mouths and how it effects our health. 2013 was the year of health for us, it wasn't a great year, but we did lots of discovering.
2014, I'm coming at ya with an enlightened more in tune view of my body and what I put in it.... excuse me just one second brb...hello choc chip biccie, how are you today? mmmm....delish! Oh, you're still reading...sorry.
Right, back to the bread thing: My aunty, who lives in Tasmania used to make this bread all the time, and when we went to visit her it was one of my favourite favourite things about our trip, watching her make the bread, and then eating it straight off the skillet with butter and honey. OMG heaven.
Basically, she made a simple flat bread with just 4 ingredients, that took only a couple of hours of rising that was then cooked in a dry pan on the stove, preferably an Aga, just to add to the country long cabin vibe, much like an Indian Naan bread.
I have recently adapted her recipe to suit our health needs (requirements), less gluten, less bread in general, but just as satisfying if not more. Also, it comes in way cheaper than gluten free bread, which makes me feel a bit icky anyway.
Spelt Flat Breads
2 cups of flour*
1 1/2 tspn dry yeast
1/2 tspn or large pinch of salt
enough warm water to make into a dough.
(these are loose amounts, which can be easily adapted, you can't really mess it up)
I always mix the salt into the flour before adding the yeast, I have heard yeast and salt do funky things if you don't do this step. Once your mixture is combined make a well in the centre and add the water a little at a time gradually combining preferably with your hands.
When you have a good doughy consistency, even if its a little wet, don't worry, place on a floured board and knead for 5 mins.
*kneading can be so therapeutic, enjoy these 5 mins, immerse yourself in the process, put lots of love into it. I mean it, this is my favourite part.
Once your dough is well kneaded place back in the bowl, cover with a tea-towel or glad wrap and place in a warm room until doubled in size.
Place your dough back on the board and knead for a further few mins. Now you can break it into 5 cm ish size balls (it's up to you how big you want your flat breads, I find smaller ones end up working better than larger ones) you want to roll or stretch your ball into a flat disc, about the size of a small side plate.
Now, I recommend letting these rest for 10-20 mins before cooking, it gives them a little more height. Once they have rested, you can cook them, use a dry frying pan on a high heat, or you can use the BBQ plate. We have just recently started using the BBQ and it works a treat, no burnt pan base (this has happened to me) no smoky house (also happened to me) and it gives great flavour to the bread.
Cook until there is a bit of colour on the underside, and you can see air pockets start to appear on top, then flip over and cook for a further 2 mins. They don't take long and will be cooked on the inside. Eat them all up!
We use these flat breads for a variety of dishes:
Two flat breads with a turkey burger and salad smooshed between them will be the best burger you have ever eaten.
One flat bread cut in half and then sliced through the middle to create a pocket and stuffed with lamb, salad and sauerkraut. Mind blowing.
One flat bread the next day with a soft boiled egg perched on top, or lashings of raspberry, chia seed jam.
The options are endless, your biggest problem will be making enough to last till the next morning.
Go forth and break/bake bread with your family and friends. Or don't, you don't have too, I'm not here to order you around, merely plant the seed in your mind.
On the seed thing very quickly, I planted some rocket and silver-beet seeds the other day, apparently they are the only things that will grow all year round in this humid land, and three days later there were little shoots everywhere, it appears warm humid soil is good for baking seeds. I'm curious to see how they go, because if they keep growing at this rate they will be going to seed next week. Any tips?
*- I use spelt as we can both digest it, but buckwheat, gluten free flour, brown rice flour, normal wholemeal flour or a combination should all work, end results may vary slightly.
PS. That choc chip biscuit I devoured was #iqs friendly and I will share the source of the recipe with you another day, along with my own variation.
PPS. Please excuse the quality of my photos, they are iPhone shots because how can I be expected to get out the camera when those tasty morsels were staring up at me.
