This continues my fascination with Greek food, especially the breads. The subject at hand is a wonderful, soft 100% whole wheat bread. You can make it with part white bread flour, but the fact that you can make a light, airy bread with all whole wheat flour is reason enough to give this one a try. It’s from Rosemary Barron’s, “The Flavors of Greece,” one of my many Greek and Near Eastern cook books.
This is a simple, fairly quick bread. It has a lot of yeast in it, so it ferments and rises quickly — don’ t let it go too long in final rise or you may have a problem with it. You can add a few raisins to the dough during shaping, or even before fermentation, for that matter. I’ve come to the conclusion that in many cases, it’s best to add fruit to a bread dough as late in the process as possible.
Here’s the recipe
| Ingred | US | Metric | Notes |
| Yeast | 2 Tbsp | 30 ml | |
| Water | 14.625 oz | 415 grams | |
| Honey | 2 Tbsp | 30 m | |
| Salt | 2 tsp | 10 ml | |
| Egg | 1 large | ||
| Non-Fat Milk | 1/4 cup | 60 ml | |
| Olive Oil | 2 Tbsp | 30 ml | Divided in half |
| Butter | 2 Tbsp | 30 ml | Divided in half, melted |
| Whole Wheat Flour | 25 Oz | 710 grams | |
| Raisins | 6-8 oz | 150-200 g | Optional |
Optional: 150-200 grams raisins / 6 – 8 ounces
Method:
1. Place all the ingredients, using half the olive oil and half the butter, in the bowl of a mixer and mix for 3 minutes.
2. Cover the bowl and allow let the dough sit for 20 minutes.
3. Uncover and knead for 8-10 minutes.
4. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for one hour. Give this dough a lot of room, as it may flow out of a smaller bowl. I’ve had it happen.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl, give it a few gentle folds and return it to the bowl for a further 20 minutes.
6. Heat the oven to 375F / 190C.
7. Form into two boules (See: Shaping a Boule), place on parchment paper, cover and let rise for 30-40 minutes. Since this is a soft dough, be careful not to let the dough rise too long, or you may wind up with a flat loaf. You can also put the two pieces of dough in greased bread pans to form more-or-less sandwich bread. In this case, let the dough rise until it is mounded above the edge of the pan, but before it starts to expand so much that it flows over the sides. I know this sounds tricky, but once you’ve taken a look at things, you’ll understand what I mean.
8. Mix the remaining Tablespoon / 15 ml of melted butter and the remaining Tablespoon / 15 ml of olive oil and brush the mix on the loaves.
9. Bake for 35-40 minutes, to an internal temperature of 200F / 93C.
10. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.
Pictures of Me Making Khoriatiko Psomi
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