My bread class with Peter Reinhart

[Mare749]

As previously mentioned, my family gave me three evenings of classes at Loretta Paganini's School of Cooking with Peter Reinhart as the visiting instructor. I have had two classes so far and it has been a blast. Peter is just the salt of the earth, so kind and personable and a great instructor.

Wednesday evening we watched him work with sprouted grain flours, what he calls "the next frontier" in the bread world. He had some bread ready for the oven so that we could happily munch our way through class while he lectured and made each dough for us. We were also served trays of sliced meats and cheeses, dried fruit, jams, butter and maple syrup.

We got to sample 100% whole wheat bread, buttermilk pancakes, corn bread, fruited focaccia and multi-grain bread all made with sprouted grain flours. We were all astonished with how delicious these breads were and I don't care for some of the 100% wheat products in our stores, usually opting for Italian or French bread instead.

The sprouted grain flour is naturally sweet, is suppose to be easier to digest and have more vitamins. There are lots of gluten-free options for people with that type of problem as well. It is also recommended for diabetics because it supposedly has less effect on glycemic levels.

Thursday evening, we learned all about making whole grain breads from milled flour. Peter prepared and baked whole wheat baguettes, ciabatta, high extraction pain au levain, whole wheat english muffins, and sprouted wheat and rye Volkombrot. All amazing. One more class tonight.

[cjs]

Wow, what a fun birthday present, Maryann!! And, really a completely new way of bread-making thinking. You're sending me to 'googling' some of these terms and flours.

Very interesting. And, cute picture!!

P.S. What's is the bread lesson tonight??

[Gourmet_Mom]

What an awesome gift and incredible experience! It all sounds so exciting! What is your favorite so far, Maryann?

Have fun again tonight!

[Mare749]

Tonight's lesson is Sourdough and the "Next Frontier" Specialty breads: Sourdough with Blue Cheese and Walnuts, Ultimate Sticky Buns, Country French Bread with Cascara Seca and ProBiotein, and Grape Skin Flour Crackers.

Almost forgot to answer Daphne. My favorite so far is Peter's original recipe for what he calls "Struan" and shares in all his books. Wednesday night he made it with sprouted multi-grains. My second favorite was the sprouted corn bread. It was just like eating sweet corn!

And tonight I am going to try to restrain myself and not shop in the school's store. Last night I came home with a metal pizza peel.

[Trixxee]

Looks and sounds like a lot of fun!

[labradors]

What a great gift and great experience!

[DFen911]

Oh I am so jealous! Love all the pictures and cannot believe the wealth of information you're getting. I am very interested in "watched him work with sprouted grain flours" When you can tell us more about this

[Mare749]

Denise, I'm not very good at explaining things without being overly wordy, so I'll just give you the two websites that Peter gave us for purchasing sprouted grain flour because it's not in all markets yet. Whole Foods has some, but Peter hesitated to recommend it because you don't know how long it's been sitting on a shelf. I did some comparison shopping and found that ordering it from www.healthyflour.com was actually the most economical way, although certainly not cheap.

The other link is:www.LindleyMillsInc.com. They also have a lot of information about sprouted grain flours and is the main mill for King Arthur Flour products.

[cjs]

You will love that peel, Maryann - I found one dirt cheap with a long handle, so I had Roy cut if off so I could take on the road with us. Love it.

Tonight is the night I'd really like to attend. Guess I'd better look into his book(S)......darn. Do you have a favorite to recommend?

[karyn]

Maryann, thanks so much for sharing! I am so glad you are enjoying your classes and am off to investigate baking with sprouted grain flours. I've never even heard of baking with it. I may have another summer project!