soured dough banana bread

A couple weekends ago I attended a seminar by Sally Fallon Morell the president of the Weston A. Price Foundation and author of Nourishing Traditions.

For those who haven’t heard, Weston A Price was a dentist who traveled the world researching the primitive diets of people who didn’t have modern processed foods available to them and then, those of the same descent, who did. He found all the primitive diets had something in common – they were high in saturated fats like seal fat, cream, and fish oils and fermented foods like sauerkraut, fish sauce, sourdough breads, and laco-fermented pickles. These people were strong and healthy and had beautiful teeth without decay and cavities. When modern foods were introduced to them their health declined and there was a marked difference in the next generation – crowded teeth, cavities and degenerative diseases.

Price died in 1948, but his research and valuable findings in dentistry and nourishing traditions have been passed on to people like Sally Fallon and others who are passionate about eating to be healthy. Sally’s book, Nourishing Traditions, is an extensive volume that encompasses the when, why, and how of soaking, fermenting, sprouting and souring of grains, meats, milk, legumes and seeds. The book is loaded with recipes, health information, and interesting histories about food.

We’ve owned a copy of Nourishing Traditions for several years now and over the years I’ve experimented with different techniques using her recipes. To give an honest review, I’d have to say I don’t agree with everything Sally teaches, but for those interested in getting back to the old paths of eating nourishing food – and making foods easier to digest, I would recommend this book for your library without hesitation.

Sourdough bread is one of these foods our family has thoroughly embraced. Soaked grain pancakes or waffles or sourdough pancakes are never turned down either. Water kefir is a constant in the pantry (Usually lime ginger these days. Check out my water kefir post for recent flavor and tip updates!) and I usually have milk kefir, some kind of yogurt or raw milk product and occasionally, sauerkraut and kombucha on hand. I think we might, just might, be getting enough healthy probiotics into our systems. :)

So, for the last two weeks I’ve had all the information from the seminar crazily racing around in my brain. What better way to process it than to bake some banana bread? Not any kind of banana bread though. It had to be moist and flavorful and…why not soak the wheat?

So I did.

I took pictures of the second to last piece. See, it was another one of those wasn’t-going-to-blog-about-it-but-too-good-not-too things. At least I got a picture before it was all gone! I’m glad it’s gone, too. I definitely don’t need this stuff laying around looking all innocent and healthy and delicious.

That’s it…You know you want just one more bite!

Here’s what you need for 1 loaf…oh wait! Who are we kidding? Why make one when making two is just as easy?

1 c. milk kefir or buttermilk
2 c. whole wheat flour

Combine together in a glass bowl, cover and let sit overnight.

In the morning, or whenever you get around to it, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and cream…

1 c. rapadura, coconut palm sugar, or sucanut
1 c. butter
1/4 c. honey

Add…

4 eggs
2 c. mashed banana (about 4 medium)
1 t. orange extract
1 t. almond extract

Beat well, then add your soured wheat mixture.

Combine…

1 c. chopped pecans (optional)
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt

and mix into banana mixture.

Butter the bottoms of 2 loaf pans. Pour the batter evenly between the two. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool before trying to remove from pan. We didn’t and it was not right.

Well, the crumbles were good.