Here is what I THINK I put in my bread dough yesterday which was so delicious after I baked it:
Dry ingredients ground in the Magic Bullet, then mixed together:
1 3/4 cup of flaked grain (2/3 oats, 1/3 red winter wheat)
1/4 cup of ground seeds (1/2 pumpkin seeds, 1/2 sunflower seeds)
Liquid ingredients mixed together after I heated the water, then left to "rest" for a while (to see if the yeast was active):
1/2 cup water (heated)
1 teaspoon dry yeast
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 teaspon honey flavored rice syrup (It said honey, but I read the label)
When I mixed the dry ingredients and the liquid ingredients, this dough looked way too runny, but I was busy and left it while doing other stuff. When I came back, it was nice and thick and ready to knead. I coated my hands with olive oil, shaped it into and ball, worked it just a little bit, then went off again to do other stuff.
When I came back, using more olive oil, I worked it just a little bit more, then separated the dough ball into 3 parts and shaped each one into a flattened ball, and baked them in my counter top infrared/convection oven using the pizza setting.
FACT: This was the ugliest looking bread that I ever baked. When I cut into it and saw the inside I almost threw it out without tasting. But it tastes delicious, so here I am trying to remember what I did so that I can make more of it exactly the same.
ANAYLYSIS: I think it was the pumpkin seeds that made the bread turn a color that initially seemed so unappetizing. But the flavor and texture they added made up for it.
I am the only person I know who puts a bit of baking soda in bread dough. I do not put much salt in any of the food I make, but in bread-baking salt helps control the fermentation rate of the yeast, strengthens the gluten, and gives the bread a good "crumb" (interior consistency) so NaHCO3 is my salt-substitute of choice.
While salt slows down the fermentation of the yeast as well as providing flavor to the dough, honey speeds it up.
I buy rolled oats and other grain flakes in bulk from bins at Henry's Market, Whole Foods, or whatever health food store is available. Usually I add a handful of fresh-ground flax seeds to my baked goods, but this time I didn't.
This recipe made three individual loaves, each about the size of a large hamburger bun, but as this bread is dense and packed with nutrition, each loaf made more than one serving.
The crust was very much to my taste, both in texture and flavor. I cannot promise that I will get the same results next time. Also, people who are used to eating white bread probably would not like the kind I bake, as mine is always 100% whole grain.
After putting these notes down, I decided to post a version of this "recipe" on Associated Content (now called Yahoo Contributor Network) -- I would have put it on Triond first, but I had already hit the "Publish" button when I decided to share, so it was too late to do that:
Ugly Bread
Oh, and I would have taken a picture, but honestly the greenish black color of this bread might have scared some readers away ;-)
Another reminder...my friend's father has a beautiful motor home for sale and I listed it for him on eBay. If you are interested, please take a look:
Jim's Winnebago