I've been experimenting with ways to make no-knead bread more tasty. Of course, the idea of just mixing together a few ingredients and having it miraculously turn into crusty, crumbly bread is so appealing. But I still cannot get it to have the depth of flavor and overall deliciousness of Peter Reinhart's delayed fermentation whole wheat loaf. Really, I shouldn't complain. Because of the delayed fermentation there are only a few minutes of kneading here and there, nothing like the traditional ten minutes of forearm-building exercise normally required for homemade bread. Despite the fact that these variations did turn out quite tasty and lovely, I am finally admitting that Reinhart knows what he's doing and his is simply the best whole wheat recipe out there. I guess I'll be sticking with his recipe from now on. I may, however, use these tweaks from the no-kneads I've been making with his recipe just for a little variety now and again.
I divided the dough into three bowls. In one I mixed in Italian herbs, in another raisins, and in the third fresh rosemary from the garden.
When I was ready to shape the loaves I sprinkled cinnamon and sugar over a rectangle of the raisin dough, spread sun dried tomatoes and Parmesan over the rosemary and herb dough, and pesto over the Italian herb dough. Then I rolled them up, tucked in the edges and left them in their pans to rise.
The sundried tomato and Parmesan one was our favorite. How could anything with Parmesan not be delicious? We made grilled cheese sandwiches with special cheddar cheese out of it and dipped them in homemade tomato soup. Mmm, so hearty and soothing (and simple!).
Although we love our plain homemade whole wheat, it was fun to spice things up a bit with some fancy swirls. And it was really easy to just add a little something in at the end before setting it out to rise.
