In the winter or early spring, when the garden is full of greens, both cultivated and wild, like the ominous-looking juicy nettles, I often bake green bread and crunchy paximadia that are quite striking and exceptionally delicious!
They are an almost guilt-free snack, and Costas eats them with his coffee in the morning or after lunch; I often serve them with all kinds of salads and spreads as part of the meze; they complement ideally all kinds of apetizers, like Tarama or Smoked Herring spread, Tyrokafteri, and also the festive Liver Pate with Pistachios.
Makes enough biscotti to fill TWO 3-quart jars
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My recipe is inspired by various traditional breads and rusks from Crete. Scroll down to see my latest variation with beer instead of wine, additional spices, and two different flours (oat and rye) besides the basic barley, and wheat. Read more about the origin and history of Paximadia.
For 16 large (4 1/2 Inch) biscuits
The meticulous method and the various phases are copied from Peter Reinhart’s “Whole Grain Breads“, as it was published in the NYT, but I start with the ingredients my ancestors have been using for ages: A combination of barley and wheat flour, honey and spring water; see also this very interesting piece on what is the best flour to use for the starter.
To see what the mixture looks like in the various stages, go to Pete Bakes blog (more…)
