HBin5 Greek Bruschetta on Quinoa Bread

I just realized it's been a while since I made a new bread recipe for the HBin5 bread baking group

If by chance this is the first time you've heard of HBin5 (or you have a memory like me and have forgotten)...it's a fabulous online bread baking group with a ton of very awesome members ranging in bread baking experience from novice to expert and everywhere in between. We are baking our way though Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. Awesome book!!! Incredible recipes....and the this whole group is lead by Michelle over at BigBlackDogs.net. If you'd like to check out what some of the other members did with their assignments  (and I highly recommend that you do) you can go to this assignments post 19th HBin5 Bread Braid

And one more shoutout....BakeSpace.com. We have cooking challenges once a month or so. For the month of September our challenge happened to be quinoa. Any form, any recipe. Just make something with it. When I realized that both assignments coincided, boy was I excited! If you wanna see what everyone on BakeSpace did with quinoa click ----->HERE<------

Ooook, lets get on with business. Now...because we're (HBin5) are baking our way through the actual book, we are not allowed to give out the recipe because when all's said and done, we will have basically re-published the whole cookbook. Which isn't really cool to the authors, ya know? But I can tell you that the main recipe for the Quinoa Bread is found on page 132. I did make a few alterations. Instead of using the full amount of white whole wheat flour, I cut it in half, increasing the all purpose for what was lacking in the white whole wheat. It's easier on the taste buds for me.

The other alteration I made was something new to me. I'd heard about it. I'd read about it and finally I decided to play with it.

Barley Malt Syrup.

For every cup of flour that is used in a recipe, I added 1/2 tsp of Barley Malt Syrup. This was the first time I used it...and I loved it!!!! It adds a fantastic flavor...although mild....it alters the color of the bread to a light caramel color and it enhances the yeast growth.

I am sold on this stuff....hook, line and sinker! This particular bottle was purchased at a health food store. Although I believe many of the main stream grocery stores carry it.

This was my very first experience with quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) ever.

I'd never seen nor tasted this grain. It's high in protein and is great for those with a sensitivity to gluten. It's been around since early times (like...back in the days of the Incas) and has recently experienced a come-back.

And is great in bread!!!

I mixed together all the dry ingredients (including the quinoa) and then combined the wet ingredients, with the Barley Malt Syrup so that the syrup would dissolve before adding it to the flour combo.

After the first rise (of 2 hours on the counter) and an over-nighter in the fridge, I formed the dough into baguettes.

My initial rise (90 minutes) was great!!! I don't think I got any over spring. But that's ok. I mean, look at this crumb....

This baguette had the pleasure of being used for a bruschetta. Greek style

Greek Bruschetta
Printable Version

1/4 cup finely chopped olives (whatever is your favorite)
1/4 cup finely chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup finely chopped artichoke hearts
1 garlic clove, minced
handful fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon red onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
drizzle of olive oil
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Salt and Pepper to taste

1 baguette, sliced diagonally and brushed with a butter / olive oil combo...(maybe even infused with garlic) and toasted (400'F oven for about 10 minutes on each side until golden brown)

Combine all ingredients except for the feta cheese (and baguette). Although that doesn't really matter since the cheese wont really melt when placed on top. So go ahead and add that too and spoon onto the sliced baguettes.

Place in a 400' F oven for about 10 minutes, or until nice and warm and almost melty cheese.

When I first added the quinoa to the dough mixture, it sorta felt like I'd just dumped a bunch of bird seed in there. (Ya...I have weird thoughts...sometimes often)

This bread was fantastic!!! The quinoa that remained on the bread surface reminded me of sesame seeds. those that were engulfed in the dough just became part of the dough and was fabulously wonderful. The greek version of these baguettes were incredibly tasty and most popular in my household. When I went to bed that night, I put several of them in the fridge. The girls weren't home for dinner...therefore I was very much looking forward to leftovers the next night. Only to come home to none. Apparently the girls had enjoyed them for leftovers for lunch.