Monday, January 19, 2009

Tomato Quinoa Bread

A recent post on Andrea's Cooking Books reminded me that I still had yet to try the tomato quinoa bread that I have been thinking about for months. I saw this on Kitchen Confit over the summer and saved it for when I got my mixer. Making bread is so easy with that thing! I usually have most of the ingredients lying around minus the vegetable juice which was quickly solved by my trip to Trader Joes yesterday. I'm not sure that I made this recipe entirely correctly. I put the dough in the fridge in the morning and when I took it out 8 hours later, it was not quite doubled, but I kept on going because I didn't have all day. The flavor of this bread can't be beat. It's soooo good and it was the perfect vessel for a bacon, spinach, and slow roasted tomato sandwich. There is really not a recipe for the sandwich, just a slice or two of bacon, a couple slow roasted tomatoes and some spinach. Simple and insanely delicious. Hope you're having an excellent day off!



Tomato Quinoa Bread
(From Vegetable Harvest: Vegetables at the Center of the Plate
as found on Kitchen Confit and Cooking Books
)

1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 cup seasoned vegetable juice
1/2 cup quinoa (uncooked)
3 3/4 cups (1 pound) all-purpose flour

Mix the yeast, sugar and water together in the bowl of an electric mixer. Let stand for 5 minutes, until foamy then stir in the oil, salt, juice and quinoa.

Fit your stand mixer with the dough hook, set it on medium-low speed and add the flour in a little at a time. Mix until most of the flour is incorporated and the dough comes together in a ball. Continue to mix for 4-5 minutes more, until the dough becomes soft and shiny, but still firm. If the dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough has doubled or tripled in size, this should take 8 to 12 hours. The dough may also be left in the refrigerator for up to two days, but you may need to punch it down a few times as it doubles.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and punch it down. Form the dough into a ball, return to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to double once again, this should take about an hour.

Punch the dough down one more time, then form it into a tight rectangle. Place the dough into a rectangular bread pan, cover with a cloth and let rise until double in size. One more hour.

Oven preheated to 450, slash the top of the loaf with a very sharp knife so that it can expand properly and place on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and it sounds hollow when tapped. Turn the loaf out on a wrack to cool and wait at least 1 hour before slicing (it will continue to cook while cooling).

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25 comments:

The Blonde Duck said...

That looks fabulous! I've never tried it, but it looks great. I've been in a bread making mood too...

Ingrid_3Bs said...

The bread looks good but I have to admit it was the crisp bacon that truly caught my eye! MMMM, bacon and bread. Okay, spinach but no tomato, please! :-)
~ingrid

Anonymous said...

This sounds really good...healthy too. Who even thinks to put veggie juice in bread??? Love that.

Going back to your post a few days ago about being happy/balanced, satisfied with life, looking for your passion...here's a tag for the Luck & Resolutions blog feature. Note 4 wishes, 4 resolutions and then tag 3 other bloggers and link back to the original person who tagged you (us!). Maybe it'll be a way for you to publicly note a few things you want to check off your list for '09!

Hayley said...

I saw this same bread on Andrea's site, and immediately wanted a slice. Thanks for reminding me, yours looks so tasty!

Anonymous said...

Oh man, Esi - you and I are back to cooking along the same wavelength again! I did bacon, grilled tomatoes and cheddar (will be posting later today). But I didn't make my own delicious bread so you got me there :-) I'll bet that added great flavor as well!

Erica said...

I have some extra quinoa, perhaps I should give this bread a try! It looks like it turned out really well!!

vanillasugarblog said...

Never had this...but that blt is making me drool woman!
I will never get sick of blt's, I do put provolone in mine sometimes or banana peppers.

Andrea said...

Wonderful bread Esi! Yours really turned out beautifully. I don't know that mine ever really doubled either, but I'd say yours turned out perfectly!

Heather said...

ohhh. that looks just delicious. i love tomato in bread - nick makes a really good sun dried tomato and basil. your sandwich looks pretty yummy, too :)

Reeni said...

The bread looks beautiful and that sandwich-yum!

Esi said...

Thanks everyone!

Kathy - that is too funny! Once again, great minds think alike!! I can't wait to see your creation.

Dawn - I thought about adding some cheese or even an egg to the sandwich, but it was late. I am definitely thinking about some of those extra flavors next time.

Andrea - thank you for reminding me about this recipe.

Heather - sun dried tomato and basil bread sounds awesome!

veggie belly said...

Oooooh that is a gorgeous looking bread! I love the color!

Unknown said...

must. make. this. bread.

eatingclubvancouver_js said...

I'm intimidated by quinoa but I love the idea of using it in bread. Bookmarked: thanks!

Kana said...

And I have some quinoa in my pantry. I adore going to Trader Joes too!

Anonymous said...

I bake a lot of bread and this looks fantastic - must try out the recipe soon - thank you!

Kirby! said...

This looks so delicious, but I don't have an electric mixer. I have a hand mixer, but no bread hook. Do you have any suggestions for how to make this without a mixer? Can you just knead it? Advice would be appreciated because this looks SCRUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Diana said...

Yum! I so need to try making my own bread -- it looks so fresh and moist and oh so delicious! Especially with that bacon.

Esi said...

Kirby, I think this would be pretty easy to do if you mix everything in by hand and then knead it for about ten minutes or so until it's smooth. Let me know if it works! :)

Anonymous said...

This looks SO good. I starred this, so hopefully I'll be trying it soon. I really need to make more bread.

test it comm said...

This bread looks and sounds really good! Another great way to enjoy quinoa!

reileen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
reileen said...

The recipe alone is making my mouth water! I can't wait to try this one. Has anyone prepared this bread with whole wheat flour in place of the all-purpose variety?

Esi said...

Reileen, I imagine you could replace half of the all-purpose with whole wheat. This is a pretty dense bread though so you may need to adjust your liquid levels accordingly.

Ilango said...

Earlier this month, I came up with the idea of making bread with quinoa. Then I decided to search google and sure enough I came up wit your blog.
Now I have the following questions:
I have been on a health fan for a while now. My main concern all along has been that the bread (brought from grocery stores) caused weight gain. This concern has caused me to explore a healthier alternative to making and eating bread.
Now, do you think making bread with quinoa is a healthful way to eat bread and reduce the risk of weight gain?