Ezekiel Bread
Many of our customers enjoy making Ezekiel Bread. The name refers to the following Biblical passage:
- Ezekiel 4:9 "Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and rye, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof;"
This is reputed to be the bread that Ezekiel ate for two years while he wandered in the desert. Whether you subscribe to this belief or not it is a very tasty bread with lots of nutritional benefits.
Dairy products, meats and eggs contain all eight of the food-supplied amino acids our bodies need. Most vegetables and grains are "incomplete proteins" (with the exception of soy). Grains such as wheat tend to be low in lysine, while beans and legumes are high in lysine. Beans are low in methionine and cysteine, where grains have a higher content of those. When we eat beans and grains together all of the essential amino acids are provided. By milling your flour at home you can combine beans, grains and legumes to create a bread which is a complete protein.
One bag of mix makes about 9 cups of flour. In addition to making a delicious batter bread all by itself this flour can be used to substitute for yeast bread, quick breads, muffins, pancakes or waffles. In our house we love applesauce raisin snack bread made with the Ezekiel flour.
EZEKIEL BREAD
Combine the following whole grains:
2-1/2 cups hard red wheat
1-1/2 cups spelt or rye
1/2 cup hulled barley
1/4 cup millet
1/4 cup green lentils
2 Tbs. great northern beans
2 Tbs. red kidney beans
2 Tbs. pinto beans
Stir the above ingredients very well. Grind in flour mill.
Measure into large bowl:
4 cups lukewarm water
1 cup honey
1/2 cup oil
Add to liquids:
freshly milled flour from the above mixture of grains
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. yeast
Stir or knead until well kneaded about 10 minutes; this is a batter-type bread and will not form a smooth ball.
Pour dough into greased pans. Let rise in a warm place for one hour or until the dough is almost to the top of the pan. If it rises too much it will over flow the pan while baking. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.
This is a sweet, moist, cake-like bread which makes 2 large loaves or 3 medium loaves.
Below are the ingredients in Ezekiel bread and their (fresh ground) nutritional properties:
Wheat and Spelt
- an excellent source of fiber, protein and thiamin, niacin, b6, folate, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, manganese, and selenium
Barley
- very high in fiber, protein and thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, b6, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium
Beans (lentils, kidney, pinto, great northern)
- together these provide fiber, protein, thiamin, riboflavin, b6, , folate, iron, K, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium
Millet
- a good source of fiber, protein, thiamin, riboflavin, b6, niacin, folate, iron, K, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, manganese
Olive Oil