Eat Right by Nick Barnard Recipe and Giveaway

Nick Barnard is the co-founder of the London-based company Rude Health which produces oatmeal, granola, muesli, and snacks as well as grain and nut milks. In Barnard’s debut cookbook Eat Right: The Complete Guide to Traditional Foods, with 130 Nourishing Recipes and Techniques (previously released in the UK in 2016), he shares techniques for making pantry staples and fermented foods along with recipes from a Frittata with wild garlic and shiitake mushrooms to an Apple cobbler. 

Eat Right is beautifully photographed and while the dishes here are certainly good for you, they are crave worthy and comforting, as well.  Barnard uses a great deal of seed, nuts, legumes and grain sprouts in his recipes as well as touting that “pig fat is wonderful”. He states, “good lard from pastured happy pigs, like good buttter from pastured contented cows, is in reality more of a health food when reintegrated into our cooking and our eating habits in the style of our ancestors.” Amen to that! 

Tomorrow is a cooking day and I’m making the author’s Onion soup along with that Vegetable biryani from earlier this week, my house will smell amazing.

I am always on the lookout for a great bagel and Kyle Books, the publisher, is graciously sharing Nick’s recipe for Honey-crust sprouted spelt bagels with our members today. The publisher is also offering three copies of Eat Right to our US members in the giveaway below – scroll down to enter.

Honey-crust sprouted spelt bagels
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MAKES 8

  • 1 2/3 cups freshly filtered water
  • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon fresh yeast
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons unrefined cane juice sugar, jaggery, or coconut palm sugar
  • 4 cups sprouted spelt flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon raw honey
  • Raw or toasted poppy or sesame seeds (optional)

BAGELS ARE THE EVER-POPULAR SHINY, CHEWY, ring-shaped bread rolls that have a rather unusual genesis, as they are boiled (poached really) as well as baked. Bagels are of course associated with Jewish communities, especially in New York City, known for their perfect pairing with cream cheese and lox (cured salmon). Their origins can be traced back some 500 years to Poland where they were a staple of the region. The hole in the middle? It’s practical-the dough cooks more evenly throughout, and for the baker, it was, traditionally, a novel way to display and sell bagels either in rows on a stick or strung up on a length of string.

Most bagels are made with highly refined wheat flour, which is high in gluten and lacks the coarse bran or germ. At best they are made more nourishing and digestible if the dough is fermented overnight but there’s no doubt that their addictive, sweet, tender (when fresh), dense, and chewy texture is derived for the most part from the use of refined wheat flour and refined sugars, making them unsuitable for the increasing numbers of gluten-sensitive and gluten-intolerant individuals, let alone those wanting to avoid refined sugar.

This recipe manages to combine the best of both worlds; by using sprouted spelt flour and unrefined, or wild, sugars, the amount of gluten is reduced, the digestibility and nourishment are improved, yet you can still have your chewy, crusty mouthfeel and superior flavors. You want convenience too? It’s right here. Made with sprouted flours complete with their readily available nutrients, including simple sugars rather than starch, these bagels do not require proofing overnight.

Spelt. So what’s all the excitement? Spelt is closely related to wheat, and therefore contains gluten, but, crucially, less gluten than wheat. Spelt is an ancient hybrid, and until about 150 years ago, it was the bread grain of choice in Europe since antiquity. Replaced in the last century by more recent wheat hybrids, spelt is making a welcome return in popularity, especially in organic farming, as it’s less dependent on the use of artificial fertilizers. Spelt has a far more interesting flavor profile than wheat; it’s nuttier, and sweeter too, and for those sensitive to gluten, spelt can often be tolerated.

Activate

Pour 1/2 cup of the water into a small bowl, crumble in the yeast, and sprinkle with the sugar. Leave for 5 minutes, then stir to dissolve.

Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the yeasted water. Pour in the remaining water and then mix to form a firm, moist dough.

Knead and let rise

Turn the dough onto a well-floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, which will take about 10 minutes. As you knead the dough, feel for its texture. You need this dough to be quite stiff and firm. If it’s too moist, gradually knead in some more flour.

Wipe the inside of a bowl with some olive oil, then roll your dough around the inside of the bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, which will take about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough, then let rest again for 10 minutes.

Shape and rest

Scrape the dough out of the bowl and return it to a lightly floured work surface. Cut into 8 equal-sized pieces and shape each piece into a ball. Poke a floured finger into and through the center of each one to form a ring.

Place the bagels on a lightly (olive) oiled baking sheet, cover with a damp cloth, and let rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425°F.

Poach

Bring a large, wide pan of water to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and then add the honey.

Use a slotted spoon to lower the bagels carefully into the honeyed water, 2 or 3 at a time.

Boil each batch of bagels on one side until they rise to the surface and puff up, then turn each one over and remove them once they rise to the surface again.

As you remove the bagels, let them drain well. If you are coating them in seeds, this is the time to do it. Put the seeds in a shallow bowl and dip the top of each bagel lightly into seeds.

Bake

Return the drained bagels to the lightly oiled baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, turning once, or until golden and shiny. Let cool on a wire rack.

Bagels are at their best within 2 or 3 days of baking, when fresh. They do freeze well. Slicing into two half rings before freezing is recommended.

Recipe excerpted from Eat Right, by Nick Barnard, published by Kyle Books. Photography by Jenny Zarins

The publisher is offering three copies of this book to EYB Members in the US. One of the entry options is to answer the following question in the comments section of this blog post.

Which recipe in the index would you try first?

Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before posting or your entry won’t be counted. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post. Be sure to check your spam filters to receive our email notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at midnight on November 17th, 2017.

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48 Comments

  • lgroom  on  October 11, 2017

    Sprouted garden pea soup.

  • DarcyVaughn  on  October 11, 2017

    Raw, fresh, salted sardines and other fish

  • laffersk  on  October 12, 2017

    Beet and goat cheese salad

  • kmn4  on  October 12, 2017

    Brown rice pudding with cardamom

  • sarahawker  on  October 12, 2017

    Sausage, chickpea, and spinach stew

  • sgump  on  October 12, 2017

    The chocolate, raisin, seed, and nut cookies sound really nice.

  • ravensfan  on  October 12, 2017

    Pan-fried rib-eye steak

  • motherofpearl81  on  October 12, 2017

    Japanese fermented vegetables (Tsukemono)

  • Siegal  on  October 12, 2017

    All day beef shank stew

  • annieski  on  October 13, 2017

    got to be Fermented Lemons

  • mpdeb98  on  October 13, 2017

    Carmelized nuts

  • Kelos  on  October 14, 2017

    I'd like to have a go at making Caramelized nuts 🙂

  • rachael_mc  on  October 14, 2017

    Pork and tofu soup with kimchi

  • Dmartin997  on  October 14, 2017

    All day beef stew

  • Scotsman61  on  October 14, 2017

    Brown rice pudding with cardamom

  • ladybrooke  on  October 15, 2017

    Fruity date: a world-champion porridge

  • JaneRose  on  October 15, 2017

    With apples being in season, I'll go for the apple cobbler first!

  • LaurenE  on  October 18, 2017

    Sausage, chickpea, and spinach stew

  • JenJoLa  on  October 20, 2017

    Beet and goat cheese salad

  • Shelley.b  on  October 20, 2017

    pan fried rib eye steak

  • RSW  on  October 20, 2017

    Poached wild salmon with traditional Norwegian butter sauce and cucumber salad

  • sequoia55  on  October 21, 2017

    apple cobbler

  • Joy001  on  October 21, 2017

    Coconut kefir

  • tararr  on  October 21, 2017

    Caramelized nuts

  • contest718  on  October 22, 2017

    I would love this book just for the yogurt recipes alone. I have a yogurt machine that I have yet to use and this would be a great start.

  • Jenamarie  on  October 22, 2017

    Easy kimchi or sprouted oatmeal. Love all the ideas though!

  • FireRunner2379  on  October 22, 2017

    I'd like to try the recipe for Apple cobbler.

  • AngelaLCooks  on  October 22, 2017

    Granola

  • lhudson  on  October 24, 2017

    Chocolate, raisin, seed, and nut cookies

  • ccav  on  October 25, 2017

    Sprouted oat and chocolate chunk cookies

  • Julia  on  October 25, 2017

    Fermented beets. Fermented lemons.

  • t.t  on  October 25, 2017

    Pork and tofu soup with kimchi (Kimchi jigae)

  • jc214a  on  October 26, 2017

    The coconut kefir would be my first choice.

  • dusksunset  on  October 27, 2017

    Onion soup

  • RickPearson54  on  October 30, 2017

    Onion soup

  • bibliophile02  on  October 31, 2017

    Onion soup

  • fiarose  on  October 31, 2017

    quinoa and eggplant salad!

  • Katiefayhutson  on  November 4, 2017

    Those honey crust spelt bagels!

  • Karla123  on  November 4, 2017

    It's always sad to see the gardening season fade until spring, so I would celebrate its farewell with a "late summer garden salad."

  • FrenchCreekBaker  on  November 8, 2017

    Coconut kefir

  • orchidlady01  on  November 10, 2017

    Clarified butter and ghee

  • Amandaspamanda  on  November 11, 2017

    Quick apple cider vinegar – I love cooking with cider vinegar, it'd be really cool to make my own

  • robynsanyal  on  November 12, 2017

    Coconut kefir

  • sgrm9514  on  November 12, 2017

    ribeye of course lol

  • AnnaZed  on  November 13, 2017

    Souring cream: straight up method

  • madelainelc  on  November 15, 2017

    Quinoa and eggplant salad sounds good.

  • jmay42066  on  November 17, 2017

    Pan-fried rib-eye steak sounds delicious.

  • bstewart  on  November 18, 2017

    Ultimate banana milkshake!

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