Buckwheat berries
July 28, 2006 Found Buckwheat berries in the market.
They are hulled, meaning I can crush them between a finger and fingernail. This ought to be fun, one more whole grain without gluten to experiment with. The locals mix and cook them with rice to enrich it. I will first wash and soak them and add to my Poolish. They are shaped like little hearts with three sides reminding me of Austrian Löffel Kraut, a sort of nutty herb that grows everywhere there, picked for salads and high in vit C.
Having heard of Buckwheat flour for pancakes, I made a dough ball of fine buckwheat flour, water, salt, com. yeast and kneaded it. More like "play dough." It rose minutely for gas escaped in tiny little cracks all over the surface. I tweaked it and practiced my kaiser roll folds with it and left it in a little ball to rise. When I had had enough, I painted it with milk to seal the cracks and baked it. I managed to trap some bubbles and I like the taste but the dense grey puck cannot stand on its own. I cut it up and dried it.
My neighborhood dogs love me, by the way, they get all kinds of bread snacks. I'm not exaggerating when I say I've taught them all to sit. The ladies laugh as dogs of different sizes sit in a row like rice paddy ducks as soon as they see me coming. :) Mini Oven
Comments
I added 100 gm washed hulled seeds to my poolish and about 40 gm oat flour, dark brown sugar and a tablespoon bread spice. After about two hours waiting for the bread to rise, I realized I had forgotten the yeast. That doesn't happen too often. No sweat, I just mixed two teaspoons instant yeast into about three tablespoons of water till smooth. Next I poked holes all over the dough with my fingers and poured the thick yeasty mixture onto it. Then I kneaded the yeast into it right there in the bowl for a few minutes and then again onto floured board. Re-greased my bowl and dough and let it rise.
Baked it 45 min. in a casserole (with lid) and removed it when finished. Now the seeds on the surface seem a little hard, maybe they'll soften up overnight. Next day surface seeds still hard and the seeds tend to stay flour dry white inside, so I recommend boiling or steaming first before adding to bread dough. The flavor is a little buckwheat but not overpowering, and no grey bread, just delicate light brown with little flour specks. Tastes better after sitting overnight.
I took a picture with my cell phone.
Don't like the hard seeds.
Next loaf
cooked the hulled buckwheat seeds in the rice cooker and it foamed over. What a mess! Tripped the electrical circut too! Well threw them cold into the bread dough and with some oat flour like above. Very happy with the results. Got lots of oven lift, in fact lifted the casserole lid right off the pot! Nice flavor and less typical buckwheat flavor than last loaf, almost non-existant. No grey bread thanks to the dark brown sugar. Bye for now :) Mini Oven