Oat Bread

Ingredients

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 cups steel cut oats, coarsely ground in food processor
• 2 cups unbleached white bread flour
• 1/2 tablespoon sea salt
• extra coarse oatmeal for sprinkling

Method

• Place yeast in 3/4 cup of the water and proof for 5 minutes until bubbly. Place remaining cup water in bowl, add yeast water and oats and quickly mix to make thin, gritty, lump-free batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at warm room temperature for about 4 hours. The mixture should become thick and spongy.
• Work in the white flour and salt to make a soft, very slightly sticky dough. It will feel rather more gluey than a white flour dough. If the dough sticks to your hands or the bowl, add a little more flour. If there are dry crumbs in the bowl or the dough feels stiff and dry, add a little more water.
• Turn the dough out on to a work surface and knead thoroughly for 10 minutes. Cover the dough with a sheet of plastic wrap and leave for 15 minutes.
• Shape the dough into an oval loaf about 9 inches long and put onto the prepared baking sheet. Put the sheet into a large plastic bag or cover lightly with a damp dish towel. Leave to rise until almost doubled in size for 1-2 hours.
• Twenty minutes before completion of rising (more or less), preheat the oven to 425F.
• Sprinkle the top of the loaf with a little oat meal. Then, using kitchen scissors, snip the top in a zig-zag pattern. Bake for about 35 minutes until the loaf turns a light golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack.

Notes

• Source:
• "Country Breads of the World"
• SERVINGS: 1
• SOURCE: Rene Becker