Back to Butter: A Traditional Foods Cookbook - Nourishing Recipes Inspired by Our Ancestors (29 page)

Banana-Date Sprouted Muffins

Walnuts, when added to the batter of a muffin, often go a bit soft, which isn’t bad (think walnuts in banana bread), but we like to keep some bite, so we put them on top instead, giving you the perfect mouthful of soft muffin and crunchy top. What’s not to love?!

1
/
2
cup (112 g) butter

1
/
2
cup (160 g) raw honey

3 cups (360 g) fresh-milled, sprouted whole wheat pastry flour (
page 55
)

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons (9 g) baking soda

2 teaspoons (9 g) baking powder

3
/
4
cup (135 g) well packed pitted and roughly chopped Medjool dates

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup (235 ml) buttermilk (
page 44
)

3
/
4
cup (170 g) mashed ripe banana (about 2)

1 cup (150 g) finely chopped crunchy walnuts (
page 49
)

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C, or gas mark 6). Line 2 standard muffin tins with paper liners.

Melt the butter and honey in a small-size saucepan over medium heat. Stir and set aside to cool.

Measure the flour into a large-size mixing bowl, then remove 1 tablespoon (8 g) to be combined with the dates in the next step. Add the sea salt, baking soda, and baking powder to the large-size bowl and whisk briefly to combine. Set aside.

Place the chopped dates in a small-size bowl and sprinkle with the reserved flour. Using your fingers, separate and cover dates with flour. Set aside.

Add the egg and vanilla to the buttermilk, whisking to combine. Add the honey mixture, buttermilk mixture, and mashed banana to the dry ingredients, whisking until just blended. With a spatula, fold in the dates.

Using a large-size cookie scoop, fill each muffin cup three-fourths full. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with a scant spoonful of walnuts. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

YIELD: 2 DOZEN MUFFINS

RECIPE NOTE

Before measuring the honey, grease the inside of the measuring cup with a bit of butter or olive oil; this will allow the honey to pour more easily from the cup without sticking.

Rustic Sourdough Bread

Because the eggs are without refrigeration during the fermentation process, some people avoid using them as an ingredient in sourdough bread. I enjoy the texture and flavor that eggs lend to bread too much to leave them out, and I also use pastured eggs from our farm, which causes me not to fear. I encourage you to seek out local, pastured eggs in order to try this recipe with confidence. Note that there is a minimum of 12 hours of advance prep time.

1
/
2
cup (120 ml) rye starter (
page 57
), recently fed and bubbly

1 cup (120 g) fresh-milled rye flour (unsprouted)

11/3 cups (320 ml) water, divided

1/3 cup (75 g) butter, softened

1
/
4
cup (80 g) raw honey

2 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons sea salt

4 cups (480 g) fresh-milled, sprouted, whole wheat bread flour (
page 55
), plus more for dusting and kneading

The night before breadmaking, prepare the pre-ferment by combining the starter, rye flour, and 2/3 cup (160 ml) of the water in the bowl of a standing mixer. Stir and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm spot for 12 hours; an oven with the light on and the door cracked works well.

The following morning, combine the pre-ferment, the remaining 2/3 cup (160 ml) water, butter, honey, eggs, and sea salt. Mix using the dough hook on the STIR setting to combine. Add the bread flour and knead in the mixer, continuing to use the STIR setting for 12 minutes. The dough will become smoother and slightly dense, but will still be too loose and sticky to shape into a ball. Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover with a tea towel. Set aside in a warm, draft-free place for 4 hours, or until doubled in size.

While the dough is rising, prepare for the next step. If you have a banneton (a linen-lined basket specifically for breadmaking), pull that out, or have ready a large-size colander or bowl and line it with a thin flour sack tea towel. Using sprouted whole wheat flour, liberally dust either the linen of the banneton or the flour sack tea towel with flour. Be generous with your flouring; you do not want the bread to stick to the towel during its second rise. Set aside.

Once the dough has doubled, sprinkle additional sprouted bread flour onto a cutting board and coat your clean hands with flour. Plop the dough onto the floured surface. Dust with
a little more flour and begin to gently knead the dough by hand. You will knead for no more than a minute. Add only enough flour to shape the dough into a ball and no more! It is very important to limit the amount of flour used in this step. As soon as the dough can be formed into a ball without completely sticking to your hands (it will still be lightly tacky), place the dough, pretty side down, into the prepared towel-lined bowl or banneton. Cover with another tea towel and set aside to rise for 2 hours. Sourdough bread does not rise quite as high during the second rise as conventional yeast bread does, but do not be alarmed; it will rise further in the oven.

YIELD: ONE (10-INCH, OR 25 CM) ROUND LOAF

A half hour before the dough is finished rising, Have ready a 7-quart (6.3 L) stainless steel, cast-iron, or enameled pot with a tight-fitting lid—whatever you use, be sure it’s oven-safe up to at least 450°F (230°C, or gas mark 8). Adjust the racks of the oven so that the pot will sit exactly in the center when baking. Place the pot, with its lid, into the oven as it is preheating.

Gently flip the dough into the hot pot, being careful not to puncture or deflate the bread. Cover with the lid and bake for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 400°F (200°C, or gas mark 6) and bake for an additional 30 minutes, until the bread has a browned, sturdy crust with a crispy bottom.

Remove the pot from the oven, uncover, and let rest for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the bread from the pan and cool on wire rack before slicing.

RECIPE NOTE

Try a caramelized onion loaf! While the bread is in its first rise, heat a large-size cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon (14 g) butter and 2 cups (320 g) sliced onion. When the butter melts, stir. Reduce the heat to low and continue to stir every 5 minutes for the next 30 minutes, until golden brown and caramelized. Remove from the heat and scoop into a bowl. Set aside until the bread is ready.

After the first rise, plop the dough onto a floured board, and kneed briefly, as described in the instructions. Spread out the dough into an 8-inch (20 cm) round circle and spread the caramelized onions evenly over the surface, then fold over and knead for 1 minute, as called for. Continue with the recipe per usual.

Sourcing or making authentic sourdough bread, whose rise originates from a natural sourdough starter, enables the cook to produce high-quality bread crumbs. Don’t expect these crumbs to be the granular texture of the store-bought variety, however, which typically contain loads of additives. Instead, they will be bready, not sandy—more like small, delicious snowflakes.

10 cups (500 g) lightly packed cubed Rustic Sourdough Bread (with crust) (
page 186
)

1 teaspoon sea salt, divided

1
/
2
teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, divided

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C, or gas mark 2). Spread the cubed bread on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes without turning. Remove, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. The bread cubes will be soft, resulting in a “stale” texture that hardens a bit as it cools, but maintains a slight give when squeezed.

In a food processor, combine half the toasted and cooled bread,
1
/
2
teaspoon of the sea salt, and
1
/
4
teaspoon of the pepper. Process for 1 minute, until the crumbs are about the size of peas or smaller (lack of uniformity in size is fine); do not process all the way to a sandy texture. The crumbs will maintain a bread-like texture, sticking together when squeezed. If any awkward large chunks remain, pulse to the desired texture. Pour into a large-size bowl and repeat with the second batch of toasted bread and the remaining
1
/
2
teaspoon sea salt and
1
/
4
teaspoon pepper. Add to the first batch and toss to combine.

Store in a sealed container until use. For long-term storage, store in the freezer.

YIELD: 6 CUPS (300 G)

RECIPE NOTE

The fluffy texture of these bread crumbs shine in our Fresh Herb–Crusted Sea Bass (
page 118
) and Mom’s Meatloaf (
page 146
). If purchasing a loaf of sourdough bread to make these crumbs, make sure yeast is not an ingredient, because it signals the use of
commercial yeast
, instead of authentic
sourdough starter
. The basic ingredients for a simple sourdough bread are flour, water, and sea salt; any additional ingredients should be real food ingredients used to create flavor or texture, such as honey, eggs, olives, or nuts.

CHAPTER 13
SAVE ROOM FOR DESSERT!

NOT ONLY DO REFINED SUGARS AND FLOURS OFFER NOTHING NUTRITIONALLY, but let’s be honest—they’re also boring! Diversity and depth of flavor are pushed aside, leaving behind—white. Reminds me of Apricot Lane Farms, before our land was transfomred. The soil was sandy and barren, kind of like refined soil. The former farmer limited all life except for the desired crop—no weeds, no bugs, no animals. Conversely, our biodynamic method enlists diversity and life to support health and vitality! These days the farm feels full and complex, just like a raw clover honey or a mineral-rich maple syrup.

A QUICK NOTE ON FLOUR
: All recipes calling for flour in this chapter have been created using fresh-milled flour (often sprouted), which creates a very light, airy texture. Dense, store-bought flour will not produce the same result.