Lunch: Aroma Bread with Coriander and Fennel

Recipe by /contributors/maria-speck The use of countless aromatics to flavor bread lies at the center of Germany's rich whole grain baking culture. Breads are often prepared with different grains and grinds of flour to achieve distinctively textured loav

This recipe includes superfoods such as:

Sunflower Seeds, Sesame Seeds

Health benefits of Aroma Bread with Coriander and Fennel

Sunflower seeds are an excellent food for PCOS as they are packed with vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine). Just one cup of sunflower seeds provides 30% of the recommended daily intake for vitamin B6. Sunflower seeds are also loaded with two other important of PCOS busting minerals: zinc and magnesium. Sesame seeds help with progesterone balance. Lignans found in in sesame seeds help to prevent excess estrogen production.

Ingredients

3 cups whole grain spelt flour (12 ounces)
1 cup whole grain rye flour (3 3/4 ounces)
1/2 cup coarse or medium stone-ground whole grain cornmeal (2 ounces)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup flax or sesame seeds
2 tablespoons aroma spice blend (see below)

Instructions

To prepare the dough, start at least 12 hours ahead. Whisk together all the ingredients except the whole grain berries and the water in a large bowl. Scatter the grain berries on top and add almost all the water. Stir with a dough whisk or a wooden spoon until the flour is incorporated. The dough should be wet and sticky to the touch, like firm oatmeal; otherwise, add a bit more water. But don't worry too much about the liquid-to-flour ratio, as this is a forgiving dough. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature to ferment for at least 12 hours and up to 18 hours.
The next day, finish the bread. Sprinkle a linen or cotton kitchen towel (not terry cloth) with cornmeal and generously flour your work surface. Using a bench scraper or a rubber spatula, scrape the stringy, bubbly dough onto the work surface. Using floured hands, fold it exactly 4 times, always toward the center — from the right and from the left, as well as from the top and the bottom. Turn the loaf upside down so the fold is at the bottom, and set it on the kitchen towel. Fold the towel over the loaf to cover, and let sit for about 1 hour.
After about 30 minutes, position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat to 475 °F. Place a 4 1/2- to 5 1/2-quart cast-iron pot or Dutch oven with its lid in the center of the rack. After about 1 hour, your loaf should have nicely risen. (When you press it with your finger about 1/4 inch deep, the dimple should remain; if not, wait 15 more minutes.) But again, don't worry too much — I have sometimes been less than precise and still succeeded.
Using thick pot holders, carefully remove the cast-iron pot from the oven and place it on a couple of folded kitchen towels (to avoid cracking); uncover. Unwrap the dough, sprinkle with a bit more cornmeal, and invert directly from the kitchen towel into the pot, seam side up (it might look a bit wiggly; that's normal). If the dough doesn't drop into the center, shake the pot once or twice (use caution, it is hot!).
Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until the loaf is nicely browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 200 °F, 20 to 25 minutes. Using thick pot holders, remove the loaf from the cast-iron pot and transfer to a wire rack. If you can resist, allow to cool completely, about 3 hours, before cutting the loaf with a sharp serrated knife. And a sharp knife it must be — this is a German-style bread, after all.

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