Friday, May 11, 2012

Peanut Chile Bread

It had been months, actually almost two years, since I saw Dan Lepard’s Peanut Chile Bread, and it was high time I tried making it. But, every time I set out to make a bread with commercial yeast, my sourdough starter feels neglected, overlooked, like I’m cheating on it. I couldn’t have that. It had been too long since my starter and I had spent time together, so I took Dan’s recipe and combined it with the sourdough bread recipe that I use more than any other. That is the Norwich Sourdough that came from Susan at Wild Yeast. From Dan’s recipe, there are roasted, spicy, red chiles, cumin seeds, peanuts, chunky peanut butter, and tahini. I mixed all of those ingredients into the Norwich sourdough right after the autolyse, and it worked like a charm. I got to try this bread without breaking my starter’s heart. The result was sesame-crusted loaves with a rosy-hued crumb from the chiles. It was nutty and a little spicy and perfect with some olive oil for dipping.

I used fresno chiles, but whichever red chile you prefer is fine. They were roasted under the broiler and left to cool. Stems and seeds were removed, and the chiles were chopped. Tahini, peanut butter, cumin seeds, and salt were placed in a bowl, and hot water was poured over them. The chopped chiles were added along with some cold water and the peanuts. Since I was turning this into a sourdough, I used one-third of the total water for the recipe at this stage. The other two-thirds was used to begin the dough by combining it with starter, bread flour, and rye flour. That was mixed in a stand mixer with a dough hook for a few minutes and then left to sit for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, the chile and peanut butter mixture was added to the dough, and it was mixed until well incorporated. The dough was then left to rise in a wide bowl in which it could be turned without removing it to a work surface. The dough was turned at 50 minutes and then at 100 minutes while fermenting for a total of two and a half hours. After fermentation, the dough was turned onto a work surface and divided. It was allowed to rest before being shaped into long loaves. The loaves could have proofed at room temperature until ready to bake, but I proofed them partially at room temperature and then overnight in the refrigerator. The next morning, as the oven pre-heated, the loaves were brushed with water, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and slashed down the middle. They baked until golden and crisp-crusted.

This flavorful bread was great alongside a salad and with soup, but my favorite use of it was for spicy carrot sandwiches. Those sandwiches were mentioned in the March issue of Food and Wine. After toasting the bread, hummus was spread on it and then topped with grated carrots that had been briefly cooked with sliced garlic, crushed red pepper, and I used cumin seeds instead of caraway. A spoonful of Greek yogurt finished the sandwich. The nutty bread and spicy carrots made a great match.

I’m submitting this to Yeastspotting where you’ll find some seriously well-made bread.


23 comments:

  1. A fabulous bread! It must taste wonderful. Great flavors.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this bread! Looks so good.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have such respect for anyone who can bake bread and do it well. This is such an unusual bread recipe but it sounds delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a fantastic result. The ingredients for this bread are really interesting. I don't think I've had bread with peanuts in it before. And I do like the sound of that grated carrot sandwich - delicious! xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. The bread looks really beautifully and professionally baked.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What the WHAT? Obviously I need this in my life. There's not even a question!

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is a fantastic bread recipe. I love those ingredients and I really want to try the spicy carrot sandwich, that sound so delicious. I like the cumin stead too instead of the caraway. Hope you have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This bread looks wonderful - it would be a great crusty side to some Asian spiced soups :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh my goodness! I think this is the best combo of ingredients I've seen all week on blogs! Yay you. I loooove it! Great, great use of peanut butter :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. WOW! I'm in love with the sound and look of this bread! Peanuts, peanut butter, chile, cumin - so many flavors combined so beautifully in this gorgeous loaf!
    Thanks for sharing Lisa! Definitely a must try!

    ReplyDelete
  11. first of all, that's a pretty awesomely-shaped loaf. it reminds me of the lips of benedict cumberbatch--look him up! :)
    secondly, what a great combination of ingredients! truly magnificent creation, lisa. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a terrific loaf of bread! Adore all the added flavor from peanuts and spices. A loaf of homemade bread is so satisfying. The aroma of baking in the kitchen and serving slices of fragrant bread is such a delight.

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a unique loaf of bread - I'd love to try it!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Very impressed! I totally admire your ability to combine two different recipes. The ingredients in that bread sound intriguing and delicious. Love pnt. butter and tahini and that final loaf with the slash down the middle looks perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  15. This looks good... Love the idea of adding spices and peanuts. This can only taste delicious:)

    ReplyDelete
  16. The flavors sound terrific, and your loaf is beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  17. awesome job, Lisa!

    like you, I have a hard time using commercial yeast, it feels. strange... :-)

    nice touch the seeds on the surface...

    ReplyDelete
  18. What a fascinating combination of ingredients in your bread, Lisa. Turned out beautifully. I can see it toasted, with a touch of Parmesan next to a salad and perhaps some homemade chili sauce on the side. :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. The bread sounds incredibly delicious. The flavours are amazing and it looks lovely. Would give it a try soon. Thanks for sharing...bookmarked it.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow, great recipe! I used to bake bread a lot, but haven't lately (by which I mean years!). Funny how we fall into and out of cooking patterns. But this is so tempting - I love chilies, and anything with peanuts immediately captures my attention. Really like this - thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Spicy carrot slaw with hummus on top of homemade chile peanut bread? My heart be still! That looks like the best nosh ever.

    ReplyDelete
  22. That is a very intriguing combination for bread. I would never have though to combine all of those things with yeast but the results looks amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  23. What an interesting bread recipe! I'll bet it was tasty with the spicy carrots.

    ReplyDelete

Blogging tips