Book Excerpt: Mediterranean Bread Recipe

Mediterranean Grain Bread

This bread was developed by Joel for this book and is absolutely delicious. Doug used it for the catering business and it always receives rave reviews. For a crustier bread, use only water (2½ cups) and not milk, do not use butter, and use 3 tablespoons of olive oil instead of 2. Use a grain mix that is made up primarily of whole wheat and barley that is ground to the size of couscous. We often use Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain mix because it is readily available at most markets. Do note that it contains several grains, such as corn, that are not authentic to first-century Palestine.

1 tablespoon yeast
1½ cup warm water (approx. 110°)
6 cups unbleached flour
1 cup whole grain mix
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons butter (soft or melted)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1½ tablespoon honey
1 cup milk

Place the yeast and warm water in the bowl of your mixer. Wait until yeast begins to activate, approximately 15 minutes. It will change color and begin to bubble. Add the flour and the grain mixture. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Add the oil first and use the same tablespoon to measure your honey. The oil will keep the honey from sticking to the measuring spoon.

Mix with the dough hook for five minutes. Start on the slowest speed to keep the flour from splashing out of the bowl and then increase the speed to medium slow. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes and then mix for another 5 minutes. The dough should be slightly sticky and springy to the touch. Add flour 1 tablespoon at a time if the dough is too sticky or water if it is too dry.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 30 seconds. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a cotton kitchen towel or oiled plastic wrap. If your KitchenAid bowl is large enough, you can leave the dough in the bowl to rise. Punch down and knead by turning the machine on low for 1 minute. Let rise until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour at 80° (1½ hours at 65°).

After rising, turn out the dough onto the floured surface again, punch down with your fingers to allow the gases to escape and knead for about 1 minute. Form the dough into 4 loaves about 6-8 inches in diameter and 1-1½ inches thick in the center. Lightly spray baking sheets with cooking oil and place the loaves on the sheets. Cover with the floured towel and let rise for another hour. After 40 minutes, preheat the oven to 400°. Cook your bread on a rack in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Remove bread and let it cool on a rack for at least 2 hours. Makes 4 small loaves.

Joel likes to let his bread rise the second time, after he has formed the loaves, directly on a cold pizza stone. He then cooks the bread for 25 minutes at 400°. This method works very well. Another alternative, the dough formed into loaves can rise on a floured pizza paddle (or another piece of wood used for that purpose). After rising, slide the dough onto a preheated stone.

Excerpted from The Food and Feasts of Jesus with permission of the publisher, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.