I've always told Louise that beer is just liquid bread; they both have all the same ingredients (grain, yeast and water). Beer, of course does have the additional ingredient, hops, but it is just a flavoring as are caraway seeds in rye bread. This has been my excuse for the consumption of a few bottles of "liquid bread".
The other day, I finally took action. I was at Whole Foods (or as my son, Dan, calls it, "Whole Paycheck"), and decided to look for rye flour since I had a yearning for rye bread. Sure enough, there it was on the shelf so I purchased some.
I went home, found a reasonable looking recipe on the internet, and proceeded to make my own rye bread! Surprisingly, it turned out quite nicely although I did trash the kitchen in the process. It turned out so good, in fact, that I made another batch the next day and made two smaller loaves instead of one large one. My neighbor, T.J., was the recipient of one of the two smaller loaves and, unless he was lying to me, really enjoyed it. Of course, what are you going to say when your neighbor forces a loaf of bread on you?
Yesterday, I decided to try regular old homemade white bread. Amazingly, it came out great too. There's nothing to this bread making! In my usual fashion, I'll probably wind up spending a lot of money on equipment to continue this and then stop as soon as the equipment has been purchased. Lets see, we need a Kitchen Aid mixer, a bread machine, an outdoor stone oven, what else?
More bread projects will include English muffins, French rolls, and those really hard crusted rolls that taste so good! I'm glad I don't have to worry about a gluten free diet!
Edd, here's one I made sometime ago. It was good and I think it might be better with your rye flour.
ReplyDeleteParmesan Herb Bread
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 TBS Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
2 packets of yeast
1 teaspoon salt
4 cup unbleached bread flour
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon of each. Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano, Sage, Celery Salt & Italian Seasoning
2 tablespoons of dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning
Cup Milled Flaxseed
In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, orange juice, olive oil, honey, Buttermilk Ranch Dressing, and yeast. Whisk until smooth. Add the cup of bread flour and the salt. Use a wooden smooth to mix thoroughly, developing the gluten in the bread flour. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, Milled Flaxseed and herbs. Gradually mix in the bread flour, stirring until the dough pulls away from the sides of the dough. Then, knead the dough by hand until it is smooth, adding just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your hands.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap, and let rise until just about doubled in size, for approximately 1 1/2 hours.
Shape the dough into two round loaves and score the top
Place the shaped bread on a baking sheet, lightly greased. Cover and allow to rise for an additional hour
To get the bread nice and crusty, place a flat pan of boiling water at the bottom of the oven during the baking period.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake for about 25 – 30 minutes