bread « (y)our food choices™

We’ve been fans of “Euro bread” for years. What we call Euro bread is basically a whole grain, seed and nut bread that resembles a brick and is usually found in health food stores. Typically, the bread is thinly sliced and toasts up nicely. We love it with peanut butter (or any nut butter), Nutella, cheeses, smoked salmon, or basically anything we can find in the fridge that we would normally eat on a cracker. One of our favorites is toasted Euro bread, with a smear of keffir cheese, slices of cucumber, pickled red onions, and a few grinds of pepper – crunchy, tart, cool, and tangy. Just thinking about it makes me hungry.

How to make the bread has always been a mystery to us. We assumed it would be super complicated and would require a laundry list of ingredients and special equipment. To our surprise we found the opposite to be true. Yahoo! had a story in their food section from My New Roots about “seed bread.” A google search produced several helpful recipes. The following recipe is easy. The most challenging ingredient to find is the psyllium husks (the stuff in Metamucil). No kneading the dough. No waiting for the dough to rise. All it takes to make the bread mixing the ingredients, waiting for everything to absorb the water, and baking. Once cool, simply slice, toast and enjoy.

To those who care, yes this is gluten-free, and yes this is paleo, and yes this is also vegan. But really, who cares! The only thing we care about is how delicious it tastes. Forget about all the labels and just whip up a batch. Nuts and seeds can vary, just remember to use the psyllium husks or the whole thing will wind up crumbling.

Euro Seed Bread

1 cup multigrain cereal
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/3 cup millet
1/3 cup pistachios
1/3 cup chia seeds
1/3 cup flax seeds
3 tablespoons psyllium husks
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups warm water

Add the multigrain cereal, almonds, millet, pistachios, chia seeds, flax seeds, psyllium husks, and salt to a food processor, pulse 4-5 times, pour into a bowl.

Combine coconut oil, honey, and warm water together. Add to nut and seed mixture then stir to combine. Line a small loaf pan with parchment; add the mixture to the pan and allow to sit for 2 hours or overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Cool, slice, and enjoy.

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Please join us in supporting a great cause while enjoying the delicious treats on sale at the second annual National Food Bloggers Bake Sale this Saturday, May 14^th, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The good folks at 18 Reasons have graciously offered up their space at 593 Guerrero (between 17^th and 18^th) for Saturday’s event. Be sure to visit Share Our Strength for more information on the organization’s efforts to end childhood hunger. If you’d like to know more about the national bake sale, be sure to check out event organizer Gaby Dalkin’s food blog, What’s Gaby Cooking.

We will be selling loaves of Jason’s homemade wild yeast bread, jars of his orange granola and two different cakes – an old-fashioned chocolate layer cake a la America’s Test Kitchen and an orange olive oil bourbon bundt cake. Yum! Of course, we won’t be alone on Saturday. The event will bring together an interesting mix of San Francisco food bloggers who will be selling a variety of home baked goodies. But you’d better hurry if you want to take any of these treats home. They’re sure to go fast.