Sun Dried Tomato & Garlic Flavoured Whole Wheat Bread: From Baking Virgin!!!

Sun Dried Tomato & Garlic Flavoured Whole Wheat Bread

“Lady, you have been staring at me since last fifteen minute”, said handsome fellow with twinkle in his eyes.
“No I am not!” I said indignantly.
“Oh yes, you are. I am quite sure of it”. He was amused.
“Excuse me! You are imagining things”, I said trying to avoid his eyes.
“Its not the first time I noticed you looking at me ‘that’ way you know. I think I know what you want”, he said looking deep into my eyes.
“Oh, really? So you think you can read my mind? Tell me what’s in mind?” I challenged him as I was quite sure that he was bluffing.
“It’s very easy to read your mind. Well, I know for fact that you want to master me!”



And that’s exactly what I wanted to do all these years even when I was kitchen virgin!
I wanted to master him…
And at last I am happy to announce that I am no more a virgin, ahem, baking virgin is what I meant!!!
Ta-da… I baked bread!!! I did it!!! And how I did it!!!
I didn’t follow any recipes or cook books or any cookery shows to bake my first bread. Since my last successful story of baking Poolish Focaccia, I wanted to bake another batch of bread but I have been putting it off for long. Then last week I felt like baking something, anything from scratch! Since I was short of sugar and eggs, this idea of baking bread came to my mind. I sat back and thought of ingredients that go into baking bread: flour and yeast. Well, for the first time in my mind the thought of baking bread didn’t scare the hell out of me! My fear of handling yeast is wearing off as I am quite confident in making good batch of Naans and I felt pretty confident at using it in baking bread. It didn’t take me long to decide what I wanted in my bread and how I am going to bake it. And rest, as we say is history!!! ;)
I decided to stick with whole wheat and ditched the thought of using plain flour as I find the whole wheat flavour to be more to my liking and quite earthy. I decided to flavour my bread with sun dried tomatoes (as I had this bottled sun dried tomatoes nearing its expiry date), garlic (can’t get enough of it) and some dried Italian herbs. Since I was baking it for lunch of big bowls of Roasted Pepper & Tomato Soup, and since I also happen to love the flavour of olive oil in breads, I used good amount of extra virgin olive oil. So the end product is Sun Dried Tomato & Garlic flavoured Whole Wheat Bread. I wanted my bread to be pretty basic and rustic looking, something that I buy from farmer’s market every weekend. So I shaped it into rough circle and made few incisions with knife and sprinkled generous poppy seeds on top of it. After few minutes of baking in my ancient oven, my kitchen smelled like bread shop that made us twice hungry! The upper crust was golden brown and little hard and the inside was spongy and well, bread-y ;) It’s a miracle we didn’t start tearing it off as soon as it came out of oven and stuff our mouth with freshly baked goodness! And boy!!! Did I master him or what!

Sun Dried Tomato & Garlic Flavoured Whole Wheat Bread Print This Recipe Sun Dried Tomato & Garlic Flavoured Whole Wheat Bread
Prep Time: 15 mins (excluding resting time)
Baking Time: 35-45 mins
Serves: 4-6
Recipe Level: Basic/Beginner
Spice Level: Low
Serving Suggestion: With Soups & Salds

Ingredients:
2½ cups Atta/Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp/1 sachet quick action Yeast
¼ cup warm Milk
1 tsp Baking Powder
6-8 Sun Dried Tomatoes, chopped into ½ cm pieces
¾ - 1 bulb Garlic, crushed to rough paste
1-2 tsp Dried Italian Herbs or any herbs of your choice
1-2 tbsp + ¼ cup or less Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tbsp Black Poppy Seeds or any topping of your choice
Salt to taste
Water to knead

Sun Dried Tomato & Garlic Flavoured Whole Wheat Bread before Baking

Method:
Preparing Dough:
Mix dry yeast in warm milk and keep it aside for 10 mins, by when the yeast would have started to react and bubbled.
Sieve whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt to taste in a large mixing bowl. Mix in chopped sun dried tomatoes, Italian herb mix and crushed garlic.
Make small hole in the centre and add yeast dissolved in milk along with olive oil and start to mix them well.
Slowly start adding water as and when needed and form smooth, pliable dough.
Cover the dough with cling film and let it rest for minimum 1½ hours till the dough starts to rise and doubles in volume.


Baking the Bread:
Preheat the oven at 220 degree C.
Line parchment paper on baking tray and spray it with oil.
Gently transfer the dough into centre of baking tray and shape it either square or rectangle or circle as I have done here.
Using a large knife, lightly press the surface horizontally and vertically forming squares.
Brush the surface with 1-2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, coating the top surface well and sprinkle poppy seeds or topping of your choice.
Place the baking tray in mid rack and bake it undisturbed for 35-45 mins depending on the type of oven. The bread should be backed well and the surface should turn golden brown in colour.
Place the backed bread on cooling rack and let it cool for 15 mins before cutting them into desired shape. When tapped, the bread should produce hollow sound which assures that the bread is baked well.
Cut bread into desired shapes and serve as it is or with hot bowl of your favourite soup and enjoy!
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Garlic Galore

From this source:

Since the ancient times, Garlic has been used as a valuable condiment for foods in India. It has also been used quite extensively as a popular remedy for various ailments and psychological disorders. Garlic has a special mention in the Hindu mythology. According to Hindu mythology, the gods and the demons once churned the sea, using earth as the axis and divine snake Basuki as the rope. Many precious materials came out due to churning of the sea. Along with the materials, a pot of nectar also came out and consuming the nectar was believed to have capacity to make one immortal. The gods and demons fought against each other for this pot and eventually, the gods took possession of the pot. The King of gods, Indra took the pot to heaven for distributing to gods. However, he first offered it to his wife Sachi, before distributing to others. After consuming it, Sachi could not digest the nectar and thus vomited. A drop of her vomit fell from heaven on the earth and a small plant emerged from that drop. This plant is known as Garlic. According to Hindu Mythology, Garlic is foul smelling because it had emerged from vomit. The mythology also mentioned that Garlic has several medicinal virtues, as it had emerged from heavenly nectar.

The website from which this erudite quote comes also has translations for the word garlic into many of the languages of India. The fact that there are so many names is tribute to the importance and distribution of this heavenly flavoring.

When I was in India the fresh garlic we purchased in the market was very small. Each clove of garlic was tiny. That meant that using this mini-garlic took a great deal of time to prepare. Garlic was also available pre-cleaned in bottles and plastic containers. We wound up using that form of garlic to save time. Although we saved time, we lost flavor. Garlic out of bottles just doesn't match the taste of fresh garlic.

Garlic: Nothing Beats Fresh Garlic

Freshly crushed garlic is better for the heart than dried garlic, scientists are reporting. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
From this source:

A new study reports what scientists term the first scientific evidence that freshly crushed garlic has more potent heart-healthy effects than dried garlic. Scheduled for the Aug. 12 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, it also challenges the widespread belief that most of garlic's benefits are due to its rich array of antioxidants.

The truth will out.

Nothing in the world beats garlic. Now comes 'scientific' evidence that fresh garlic is the best. It beats that dried stuff people use in recipes when they don't make the time to chop up fresh garlic. Or that powdery stuff many people sprinkle on their pizza as they gobble up a slice at the local pizzaria.

The moral of the story: take the few moments it requires to chop chop chop some fresh garlic when you're cooking...whatever. Chopping garlic is so easy and simple. Teach it to your children. Don't marry someone who doesn't do it. Practice it whenever you have a chance. Dream about it. Bottle the scent and wear it on special occasions. Become an advocate. Become Johnny or Janey Garlic-seed.

A day without fresh garlic is like a day without sunshine.