Sourdough Rye Bread

Who am I to improve on James Beard's Sourdough bread recipe? Well I just used my existing sourdough starter instead of making a new one as he suggests and omitted the poppy seeds.

Sourdough Rye Bread (Adapted from Beard on Bread)

1 pkg of yeast (2 1/4t)
1/4 c water
3 T sugar
1 c sourdough starter
4 c flour
2 c rye flour
2 T butter, melted
11/2 T caraway seeds
1 egg, beaten

Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water. Set aside for about 10 minutes. In a bowl add starter, 2 c flour, butter, and caraway seeds. Add yeast and add rye flour. Add additional flour as needed. The dough will be stiff. Knead until dough is smooth (it will be a little sticky). Place in greased bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled - about 2 hours.

Post-Rise

Pre-Rise

Punch down and divide dough in half. Shape into rounds and place on greased (or silpat) sheet pan. Cover and let rise again about 1 hour. Slash tops and brush with beaten egg. Bake in 375 for 30 minutes or until browned and hollow sound when hit on bottom.

Pre 2nd Rise

Who's hiding under there?


Ready for the oven

Bad Side

Good Side

James suggests covering the breads with a towel while they cool so the crust doesn't get hard. I like the crust crusty so I didn't cover them. He also adds 1 1/2 t of poppy seeds. They just get stuck in your teeth.

It's that good side/bad side thing. I had a bit of a blow out on the side - I don't think I slashed the dough deep enough? But they had an excellent flavor. It will go well with the Potato Broccoli soup from the other day.

Nice Crumb

Comments

New Kid on the Block

So here's a picture of the new kid on the block. Ain't she a beauty? It's a Blomberg . They are fairly new to the US. They have been around in Europe for quite a while. I really liked the design. I've been dying to have a freezer on the bottom. With the old refrigerator I would constantly lose brain cells by hitting my head on the freezer will poking around in the refrigerator. It really makes sense to have the refrigerator on top - that is where you spend most of your time. When we bought the old one, it was an emergency situation. The prior one was leaking on the floor and was no longer cooling. Fifteen years ago the freezer on the bottom was just starting to get popular but we were in no situation to wait for delivery. We had to take what they had on hand. Now the freezer on the bottom is by no means unique. What is - is this freezer's design. There are 3 compartments in the freezer. I used to have a chest freezer in the basement and everything would get los

Denver Eats

I had never been to Denver or Colorado for that matter and was quite excited to go. It was really beautiful. I cut out of a few of the conference sessions and went to the Amphitheater at Red Rocks. It was really cool. They had a listing of all the bands that played there. What was I doing in 1984 that I missed the Clash??! The restaurants were really great. Larimer Street had lots to offer. and it looked pretty too First I went to Rioja . I had a tough time deciding what to have. I opted for the Octopus Farfalle in an appetizer portion. I was glad that I did. It was a tad bit spicy and we all know what I baby I am when it comes to heat. Then I had the Scallops as a main course. It came with eggplant spanakopita. It was quite good. Sorry no pics, I was busy eating. For dessert, I had the variations of chocolate, which was beautiful as well as delicious. I at least took a picture of that. We were also treated to a mini beignet. I have to say it was better than the one that

Project Cassoulet - Pork Ragu

Plucking the bay leaf out of the Ragu Step 3: Pork Ragu. I couldn't decide which pot to use for this, but decided it was probably best to use the Dutch oven (not THE Dutch oven). You needed to add the beans to the pork ragu afterwards, so I thought it best to use a big pot. However, before assembling the cassoulet, you need to bring the pork ragu back up to a simmer. I thought it best to store it in the pot (one less container to clean). Thankfully the pot fit in the refrigerator. This was not that complicated. Brown the pork, add the remaining ingredients, and cook until tender, skimming the fat every once in a while. Once it was done, I added the beans. Since the beans were made the day before and chilled, this helped cool the ragu down a bit as well. Next time, I think cooking the beans and the ragu on the same day would be doable. Beans added and ready to chill

Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

Search This Blog