Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Red Lentil Bread


Hello again. It's been a while, but I thought maybe I'd come along and post this. Maybe you are all still there?

After having my 3 wonderful children, I've developed allergies! yay! :/ One of the definite allergies I now have is to Sulphites. Sulphites are in nearly everything!!! Especially in bread. So now instead of making bread because I enjoy the process, I have to make bread. I'm not complaining. Homemade is much better overall anyway. But one thing is I've gotten bored with plain bread! I used to buy the good stuff full of grains and whole wheat. So I've been adding things to my bread! this recipe is for bread with red lentils in it! Talk about yum! And bonus, lentils are full of protein and fiber!
Enough chat, here's the recipe!

RED LENTIL BREAD
1/2 cup red lentils
1 cup water
~In a large pot, cook the red lentils for about 30 minutes.

4cups of lukewarm water
4 tblsp sugar
1/4 cup oil
2 tblsp active dry yeast
approximately 12 cups flour (this can be a mixture of whole wheat and unbleached all purpose if you so wish)

Combine water oil sugar and yeast and allow to proof for 10 minutes. Cup by cup, add the flour. Start off with a whisk, Before it becomes to thick to whisk, add the cooked lentils. Once it becomes to thick to whisk dive in with both hands until well combined. Don't use all the flour at once. Once you get a semi wet dough turn it out on to the counter (lightly dusted with flour) and begin to knead. Knead like you've never kned before. for at least 10 minutes, but I recommend longer. Once yo've done this, put the dough back in your bowl and allow to rise for 2 hours. Don't rush the rise!!! this will give you nice fluffy bread!
Before the rise:
While you let it rise, do some laundry!
This is what it should look like after you've folded 3 loads of laundry, and played with your cute children :) (or pets or sat and read a book, or whatever it is you need/want to do in that time)
Now it's time to shape into loaves. What I find works best is to cut the dough into approximately even pieces and flatten into rectangles. Then I roll the rectangles into loaves. Place into your bread pans and let rise again for at least 30 minutes. I generally forget about it and end up letting it rise for 45 minutes to an hour. Preheat your oven to 400`F.
So long as the bread is at least doubled in size you are safe to put it into your oven. Bake it for 25 minutes.
Pull it out of the oven, enjoy the smell of fresh bread but wait at least 20 minutes before you cut into it. Slather it with butter and enjoy!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing, I bought an organic preservative free loaf of bread as we are trying to eat more real, raw, whole, good for health. I would love to be able to make a great loaf at home but nothing that has worked well for sandwiches or stays soft and moist for a few days... So this loaf I bought had red lentils and I thought I'd try your recipe and see if the lentils make the difference!!! Cute shot of your little one...
    Thanks again!

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  2. You are welcome! I hope this works out for you. I do find it stays moist for longer. Best of luck baking!

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