The Incredible Edible Ezekiel 4:9 Bread

I've been tasked with teaching Sunday school, and, of course, I wanted to incorporate bread baking into the lesson. Bread is a fundamental element of so many stories in the Bible, but I've been fascinated by the bread discussed in Ezekial and I've always wanted to try and make it myself.

The bible verse itself says:

"Take also unto thee Wheat and Barley, Beans and Lentils, Millet and Spelt, and put them in one vessel and make bread of it..."

--Ez. 4:9

Here's a little background:

The Story Behind The Bread:

Ezekiel was a Hebrew prophet who lived about 2,500 years ago. According to the Old Testament, Ezekiel lived a life of exile and he was living in a city under siege. It's unclear whether there was a military siege (where an opposing army surrounds a city in order to conquer it) or an internal siege (where there is such chaos and hardship in a community of people that they were unable to grow food or eat). It seems clear, however, that it was a time of starvation.

Ezekiel prayed to God and God came to Ezekiel in a vision and instructed him about how to survive by eating this bread. God told Ezekiel to combine wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt into a big water jug, let it rest, and then make bread of it.

The combination of these ingredients was controversial. Unlike today, there were many strict rules at that time about what the people of God could or could not eat. Many of the ingredients in Ezekiel 4:9 bread were considered unclean, because they were used to feed cattle, birds and other livestock.

But, despite the ingredients being unclean, God instructed Ezekiel to eat them in order to live, which he did.

One message that can be taken from Ezekiel 4:9 is that when we experience times of trouble or personal unrest, we should follow the commandments of God and through God's lessons of love and kindness we will find peace and comfort. God is the bread of life.

Why this bread is amazing:

You could live off this bread! Modern science tells us that when these ingredients are combined that they form a complete protein, equivalent to eggs or milk. This bread also contains all nine essential amino acids, and there are a total of 18 amino acids present in the Ezekiel 4:9 bread. That makes this one of the healthiest breads around. 

How is this bread different:

When this bread was originally made the ingredients were likely very coarse, and they didn't have active yeast that you can buy from a grocery store. So, the original Ezekiel bread was probably harder, more dense, and shaped like a hockey puck. Unlike Ezekiel, we are also baking this bread in an oven and not over an open fire or ashes made of dung.   

How this recipe developed:

I wasn't able to find a recipe for Ezekial 4:9 in any of my bread baking books. My guess is that the ingredients are too uncommon and numerous, and the cookbook authors didn't want to waste space. 

Although that may have been true in the past, I don't think that the ingredients are as difficult to find as they used to be. I was able to get all the ingredients at my local food co-op and I figure that they're also available at any Whole Foods or even the health/bulk/organic section of the local mega-store.

Absent a cook-book recipe, I hit the internet in search of a good recipe. Some of them were okay, but they looked pretty dense.  I wanted a light and fluffy bread that the kids in the Sunday School class would actually enjoy eating. I'm all for health food, but health food that nobody eats doesn't do anybody any good.  So, I looked at some multi-grain and whole wheat recipes and started adjusting.  Below is my recipe, which I hope you like.  If you do want to be super-healthy, you can omit or reduce the brown sugar and honey.  You could also, theoretically, replace the white all-purpose flour with whole wheat.  If you do, let me know how it turns out.

The Incredible Edible

Ezekiel 4:9 Bread

Makes two loaves

Soaker 1/4 cup of wheat flour 1/4 cup barley flour 1/4 cup spelt flour 1/4 cup millet flour 1/4 cup lentils, cooked and blended in food processer 1/4 cup black bean flour 1 cup water

Dough 4 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour 1 cup of wheat flour 3tablespoons of brown sugar 1 tablespoon of instant yeast 1 1/2tablespoons of honey 2 cups water, at room temperature 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

1. On the day before making the bread, make the soaker. Combine all the ingredients--as instructed by God to Ezekial--in a vessel. Specifically, mix the wheat, barley, beans, millet, lentils and spelt with water. Cover the vessel (bowl) with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature overnight. Let the soaker sit overnight.

 

2. The next day, stir together the flour, brown sugar, instant yeast, and salt. Then add the soaker, honey, and water. Mix the ingredients until they form a ball.

3. Remove from bowl, sprinkle flour on the counter and begin to knead for about 12 minutes. Add flour as needed to make a dough that is soft and pliable, tacky but not sticky.

4. Let it rest for about 90 minutes or until it doubles in size.

5. Remove dough from the bowl. Press into a rectangle about 3/4 inches thick, 6 inches wide, and 8 to 10 inches long. Roll and pinch into a loaf and place it in an oiled loaf pan.

6. Let it rest for 90 minutes or until the dough nearly doubles in size. The goal is for it to crest above the lip of the pan.

7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for a total of approximately 40 minutes, rotating 180 degrees after the first 20 minutes.

8. Although warm bread is awesome, it is preferable to let it cool on its side for 1-2 hours. The cooling process is actually a final, gradual bake. Cutting open the bread before it cools may result in a gummy middle.