Hotroot Bread

One of the more intriguing savory bread ideas that came from Redwall is the idea of hotroot bread -- something I have marked down as coming from the book Mariel of Redwall, but that I can't find for the life of me... Anyway, I made this bread from the leftover habaneros from making my hotroot punch last week. I highly recommend de-seeding your peppers before chopping them, as I did, so that your bread has a nice sharpness instead of being too hot to eat an entire slice. I attempted to make this as a yeast bread, but wasn't hugely successful (I think my yeast was bad, since this basic recipe and method has worked for me in the past) and took a lot of time. In the future, if I made it again, I would use a basic quick bread recipe -- like the one I used to make the spice bread -- and stir in the chopped peppers before baking.

Hotroot Bread

Rise time: 1 hour for the first rise plus 1 hour for the second rise
Prep time: 10 minutes split before and between the rises
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup water
• Habanero peppers (I chopped up five, but probably only used three peppers worth)

Directions

1. Combine the flour and yeast in a bowl.
   
2. Add the water, stirring and kneading until the dough is smooth (it will still be a little sticky).
   
3. Roll the dough into a ball and place at the bottom of the bowl.
   
4. Cover the bowl with a damp, lint-free towel and leave to rest for an hour. If your oven has a proof setting, use that. If not, any out-of-the-way spot should be fine. 
   
5. While waiting, seed your habaneros and chop them finely. 
   
6. When the dough has doubled in volume, punch it down and knead in the peppers a little at a time until the bread looks as peppery as you'd like it to be. 
   
7. Shape the dough into a rough loaf shape, place in a loaf pan, then cover with the damp towel again for another hour.
   
8. When the second rise is approaching its end, preheat the oven to 410F. Bake the bread for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool completely before slicing.