Big Sur Bakery Cookbook - Michelle Wojtowicz [89]
Terry’s recipe uses a nutritious blend of oat bran, flax, sesame, quinoa, amaranth, and seaweed. Rather than adding salt, Terry gathers kelp from the beach in Big Sur, dries it, pulverizes it in a coffee grinder, and adds it to the bread. If you don’t have access to fresh kelp, you can replace it with dulse flakes, available at most health food stores. Another alternative is to add brown sugar, honey, chocolate chips, and a little butter to the mix and turn it into cookies. The idea is to take the recipe and adapt it to your tastes and nutritional desires.
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Photographs by Sara Remington
INGREDIENTS
5 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
½ cup flax seeds
½ cup sesame seeds
2 cups oat bran
¼ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup amaranth, quinoa, millet, or poppy seeds, or a combination of any of these
2 tablespoons dulse flakes, or ½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons beer
2 ½ cups buttermilk, half-and-half, milk, or water
Unsalted butter, softened, for serving
Makes about fifteen 4-inch patties
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, if desired.
Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl, stir them together, and make a well in the center. Add the beer and the buttermilk. Mix with the handle of a wooden spoon until a thick, wet batter forms. Sprinkle a layer of flour over the top. Turn the batter onto a lightly floured surface and roll it into a loose log about 2 inches in diameter. Cut it into 1 ½-inch-thick slices and pat them down with your hands to form patties. Place the patties on the baking sheet and bake them for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Let them cool completely.
To serve, slice each patty in half, toast it well, and smear with butter. (Seriously, make sure to toast it. Hide bread is similar to an English muffin in that if you don’t toast it, it’ll taste raw.)
Photographs by Sara Remington
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Mâche Salad with Citrus, Avocado, Almonds, and Grapefruit Dressing
Mâche, also known as lamb’s lettuce, is a very small green with a fine texture, subtle nutty flavor, and delicate leaves. This salad is one of Michelle’s favorites because it screams “California.”
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INGREDIENTS
FOR THE ALMONDS:
¼ cup unblanched almonds
1 teaspoon rice bran oil or canola oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE GRAPEFRUIT DRESSING:
Juice of 1 ruby red grapefruit
2 tablespoons golden (or white) balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Juice of ½ lemon
½ cup rice bran oil or canola oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE SALAD:
1 blood orange
1 ruby red grapefruit
1 Cara Cara orange (or a navel orange if
Cara Cara aren’t available)
1 avocado
8 cups mâche rosettes
1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon minced chives
1 whole scallion, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 small shallot, minced
Serves 4
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Scatter the almonds on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with the oil, season with salt and pepper, and toast in the oven until they’re golden brown through the center, about 10 minutes. (To check if they’re done, cut one open and inspect the color on the inside.) Let the almonds cool, and then roughly chop them.
To make the dressing, put the grapefruit juice in a small saucepan. Reduce the juice over high heat until syrupy, 7 to 10 minutes—you should be left with about 1 tablespoon. Whisk the reduced grapefruit juice, vinegar, mustard, and lemon juice together in a medium bowl until well combined. Add the oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking until the dressing is thick and emulsified—it should come together pretty quickly. Check the seasoning, and add salt and pepper to taste.
Prepare