Milling processes developed in the late 1800s stripped out the germ and bran of the wheat berry. This increased shelf life and enabled higher-rising bread. Bu According to Michael Pollan's book Cooked: A Natural History of Transfomation what was left was starch devoid of nutrition and led to people developing diseases that they had not had before they began eating refined flour.
In the 1940s, governments convinced the industry to add key nutrients back into the flour. However, as Pollan writes: "Rather than go back to address a problem at its source—the processing of key nutrients out of wheat—the industry set about processing the product even more. This was sheer brilliance: The milling industry could now sell the problem and the solution in one neat package."
If you want flavorful and healthy whole-grain foods, you will likely need to make them yourself. This post, the first in a series on whole grains, is geared toward people starting to bake with whole grains.
Quick breads are the easiest way to embark on a whole-grain journey. Quick breads are typically leavened with baking powder or baking soda plus an acid. Think banana bread, pancakes and scones. I have come across recipes and blogs that say you can't just swap white bread for whole grain. I disagree. I do it all the time in quick breads. A good start is to swap half of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour. If you want a little less hearty flavor use spelt flour or white whole wheat.
The picture at the top is a scone recipe from Martha Stewart in which I replaced the entire two cups of all-purpose flour the recipe calls for with spelt flour. I also used craisins instead of currants. If you want to cook with recipes that begin with whole grain, I recommend the cookbook King Arthur's Whole Grain Baking.
Please stay tuned for future blog posts on yeasted breads and milling your own grains.
Cool! Are you thinking of writing a book?
ReplyDeleteWould you read it?
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