Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Killing Two Birds With One (Wheaten) Stone

Another glut of blogging events have descended on me, mostly because I haven't been blogging anywhere near what I should be to keep up with them all, but I'm going to try! The latest two to grace my computer screen (and e-mail inbox) are the ever-popular Bread Baking Day (the theme this roundup being "Bread With Sprouts", hosted by Zorra) and the new (to me) quiz event called Open Sesame (hosted over at The Dining Hall by Siri and DK [of Culinary Bazaar])

I know this is generally frowned upon in the food blogging community (especially since it's the birthday of Bread Baking Day!), but I really couldn't afford more baked goods around the house than we had already - I think my family is starting to revolt. With three freezers and two fridges already packed to the brim, a fiance trying to pass his policing fitness exam and a dad who's moving in a week, there simply wasn't room for 3 or 4 loaves of bread or tins of cookies! But I digress.

For those of you who aren't in the "Open Sesame" loop, I will explain. I found this neat quiz-style event through IMMB and immediately decided to give it a shot. Basically, each player is given a choice of one of four "mystery boxes" - whichever one you choose could be filled with a riddle about a vegetable, grain, fruit or spice. Then it's your job to guess what the "secret ingredient" is and respond to the e-mail. The sooner you guess correctly, the more points you gain (which bumps you up in long-term standings for prizes). When you get the answer right, you then have to make a delicious recipe with your secret ingredient and post it for all the world to see! Then comes the best part - voting! Public voting takes place for a week after the contest close date and the winner gets a gift! Sounds like fun, no?

Here was my riddle, see if you can guess:

I am a grass , or am I a cereal or a grain
I am everywhere and in almost all the foods you eat
My whole being used in many ways without restrain
I offer you something which is so hard to beat

I am as old as you can think of me to be
Thought to be originated from the land of camels
I am breakfast, lunch and dinner for all to see
Or be it desserts from cakes, pies to caramels

I am famous all over the world from east to west
As breads, flatbreads , cookies to muffins
I am very healthy and like a treasure chest
For people - weight conscious and its healthy kins

Buckle up and take a pen and a paper
I am yellow when alive, brown when put to 'dust'
Eating me makes you look so dapper
Now think hard and tell me what is that grain that we all genuinely trust

...give up?? Wheat!

So, a recipe with sprouts... and wheat! Well, you've heard of sprouted wheat bread, right? Well, how about this! I did the next best thing to making a yeast bread when it comes to my family - a version of their favourite banana bread! Sprouted, cooked and ground wheat berries fill out this low-fat treasure. It freezes beautifully, and is full of fibre and nutrients. The texture is dense and moist like any good banana bread, but with a delicious hint of nuttiness from the wheat berries. This takes a while to do (as does anything with sprouts), but it's a special sort of bread! Need a tutorial on sprouting?? I used Bob's Red Mill's advice.

Sprouted Wheat Banana Bread
Serves 10
1/3 cup wheat berries
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 large over-ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tbsp vanilla (use the real stuff if you can!)

  1. Soak wheat berries in cool water for 8 hours. Drain, rinse and drain again.
  2. Put the wheat berries in a sprouting container (a jar covered with mesh or pantyhose works) and place it in a cabinet or closet out of sunlight.
  3. Rinse your wheat berries and drain them thoroughly every 8 hours for 2 days.
  4. Bring a small pot of water to a boil.
  5. Add sprouts, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain.
  6. Transfer sprouts to a blender or small food processor and puree almost smooth (you won't get a perfect puree - trust me!). Set aside.
  7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a loaf pan.
  8. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt.
  9. In a separate bowl, mix wheat berry puree, brown sugar, mashed bananas, applesauce, oil and vanilla.
  10. Add to the dry ingredients, stirring until just blended.
  11. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  12. Cool in pan 10 minutes before turning out to cool completely.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 192.4
Total Fat: 2.1 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 5.0 mg
Total Carbs: 42.4 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.5 g
Protein: 3.0 g

Yum! Enjoy!

7 comments :

  1. "a jar covered with mesh or pantyhose"? It sounds so wrong but it makes perfect sense for sprouting :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely. Thanks Sarah!

    Cheers,
    Siri

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great bread

    URL kochtopf/stories/5026472/ was not found on this server!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Sarah,

    This is Sophie from Flour Arrangements :)...just wanted to let you know that I nominated your healthy blog for an award :D.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like your healthy Sprouted Banana Bread! Great idea.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Most interesting recipe. Sprouted wheat and banana must have given you a lovely soft textured bread.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Clean pantyhose, people! I know this from my vegan sprouting days! Hah! And the addition of banana sounds wonderful!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for the feedback!