Linseed Bread

Sun 16 Nov 2008

I am busy trying to use up stuff in the cupboards. This also means that stuff doesn't get replaced immediately it runs out. Last weekend I used up the last of my carraway seeds so I had to think about what else to put in the bread.

Every now and then I go through a stage of making my own breakfast cereal. When I do that, it's eaten topped with yoghurt, milk and golden linseed. As I've not managed to make cereal for a while, the golden linseed was looking lonely and neglected. A quick scoot around the internet and I'd decided I'd need about a quarter of a cup and I'd soak the seeds for an hour or so before using them.

I got quite a shock when I came to use the seeds: they'd not really swollen but they'd turned all slimy and sticky and they'd made their soaking water all ... sort of ... gelatinous. I tried rinsing them but they stayed slimy and even though I was having visions of food poisoning I put together my usual basic bread recipe.

1 tsp of dried, active yeast, 12 fl oz of warm water, 1 tablespoon of sugary stuff (in this case, maple syrup - more stuff to be used up). Once the yeast starts to bubble away, I added some salt, 500g of strong white flour and the slimy linseeds. As always, it was the KitchenAid that did the work.

Given the sliminess of the linseeds I wasn't surprised to have to add just over half a cup extra of flour. I also used a fair bit extra later, when kneading the dough.

The dough seemed to take a while to get going with its rising but eventually it got to the point where I could give it a kneading and shape my loaf. The second rising was a lot quicker and before I knew it - the loaf was out of the oven.

It looked fantastic and, as I was hungry, it wasn't long before I broke the rule about not slicing into your bread while it's still warm. The bread is delicious. The linseed hasn't weighed it down at all, hasn't imparted any sliminess and (best of all) I'm still here to tell the tale! It doesn't really add too much in terms of flavour (perhaps a slight nuttiness) but it does add to the texture. As linseed is a bit of a wonder food (high in omega-3 fatty acid, as well as B1, iron, phosphorus and magnesium, as well as good amounts of other B-group vitamins and various trace nutrients) it rather transforms the nutritional value of a slice of white bread!

Which is excellent ... as I've got rather a lot left to use up!

tagged with: bread, baking, linseed

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