walnut sour cherry rye bread

I am having a difficult time getting back into the swing of Houston life since we have been back.  The upheaval at work is not helping as well as the heat of late summer.  Our last traveling bit was for the boyos and I just did not feel like I came back refreshed.  I have already done some mending today and I hope to put my hands in dough and sit at my sewing machine.  That may help.

Before we left, I made a walnut sour cherry rye bread.  I have been listening to the Kerry Greenwood Corinna Chapman mysteries and since Corinna Chapman is a baker there are all these lovely descriptions of bread and food.  Corinna Chapman starts most mornings with some of her own bread, many times rye, and sour cherry jam.  I rifted on that for this bread.  I was thinking it would be great with cheese on our travels.  The youngest of the boyos though did not think this was food so there was much to much eating out done due to just trying to get him fed.

I made two loaves of this.  I gave half to two different co-workers.  One came back and said it was fabulous as the bread for grilled cheese.  The other, who like stout beers, said it tasted like a really nice Lambic beer, and also like a Flemish Sour Ale.  Since I have not found a beer I like, I would not know but someone else may.  I think it is pretty fabulous with butter and with cream cheese.  The grilled cheese is on my list and smoked salmon and cherry jam.  

walnut sour cherry rye bread

sourdough starter

3/4 cup water

1 cup rye flour

2 3/4 cup water

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup walnut oil

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

1 cup finely chopped dried sour cherries

3 teaspoons salt

5 to 6 cups dark rye flour

The night before, mix the starter, 3/4 cup water, and 1 cup rye in a large bowl.  Cover and let sit overnight.  Take out a couple tablespoons of starter for the next batch of bread.

Into the starter, mix the water, honey, oil, walnut, and cherries.  Mix in two to three cups of rye flour.  It should be the consistency of pancake batter.  Cover and let sit until bubbly, a couple hours or more.

After the batter is bubbly, mix in the salt.  Mix in two more cups of flour.  You should have a stiff dough.  Turn out onto a counter floured with rye flour and start kneading.  The dough should be very soft.  The sour cherries may soak up more liquid and rye rises better if it is a moister dough.  Place back into a cleaned bowl, and let rise until double.

Grease two large loaf pans.  Divide the dough into two and form into a loaf shape.  Place into the pans.  Cover and let rise.  My house was cool so I let the loaves rise overnight.

Turn the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Put in the loaves and bake for one hour.  The loaves are done when they sound hollow when tapped.

It is best if you can wait at least twenty minutes before cutting but that rarely happens in my house.  Enjoy.  

a swedish style rye bread

I have been having the urge to bake more and more bread.  There is only so much bread one household can eat.  I have been told to give it away.  

Saying that, fishes seem to be the other big thing that is wished for in our household.  Smoke salmon.  Baked halibut that is similar to fried.  Fried catfish.  Fish has been asked for for breakfast.  

After having a rye that was not flavorful enough out, I decided to see if I could find a simpler rye then I had found before.  Yes, it was very good but I like not having to have extra special ingredients in the house.

I found Swedish recipes for kymenlaakso.  They had other Swedish names attached but nothing translated well.  It is basically an artisan bread made with 100% rye flour, salt, and a starter.  And time.  Lots of time because there is not a lot of gluten in rye. 

The resulting bread was not soft per see but it is moist.  Sliced thin it is chewy and flavorful.  With smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, and thinly sliced red onion, life is pretty good.

swedish style rye bread

sourdough starter

3/4 cup water

1 cup rye

the rest of a 24 ounce bag of dark rye (I used Bob's Red Mill)

1 cup water

1 to 2 teaspoons of salt (this is to your taste.  experiment)

The night before, refresh the starter by mixing in 3/4 cup water and 1 cup rye.  Cover and let sit overnight or until bubbly.  Save a bit for next time (I use whatever I have in whatever bread I am making).

Mix in 1 cup water.  Mix in 2 cups rye.  Cover and let become bubbly.  With the rye having less gluten and no sugar, this may take a bit.

After the sponge gets bubbly, mix in the salt.  Mix in enough rye to make a soft dough.  Knead until smooth.  I found it took most of the rest of the bag of rye and it was a bit sticky still.  I did not wish to make the dough any stiffer.  

Cover and let rise until double.  This may take overnight depending on how stiff your dough is.  You can put it in a ziploc and let is rise in the refrigerator.  It will make the bread more sour.

Butter a large loaf pan.  Shape the bread to fit in the pan.  It will be sticky soft.  Cover and let rise until puffy.  This will take time.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 1/2 hours.

Yum.

everyday bread

I have been thinking for some time that I need to write down my current every day bread recipe.  When I was getting texted about the the time I was getting ready to go to bed about what the next steps were, that made the decision for me.  My everyday bread is based on the Tassajara Bread Book (by Edward Espe Brown) pastry recipe but it is every changing for what I put in it.  When Koda Bear is eating jam sandwiches on a regular basis, I put an egg in it.  If I have heavy whipping cream that might be turning soon, that is fluid in the recipe.

I started laughing at myself because I was thinking this recipe is very fluid.  Right after the last sentence.  It truly is but this is current stopping place.

everyday bread

Note:  I will put my some of the possibilities in the ingredient list.  Depending on what  you put in the dough will change the amount of flour you need.  My french bread style. 

sourdough starter

3/4 cup water

1 cup flour

1 cup milk (this could be water or non-dairy milk or buttermilk or heavy whipping cream)

1 egg

1/4 cup sugar (white or brown)

1/4 cup butter (or another oil, I use olive a lot)

2 teaspoons salt (this can vary but bread tastes very bad without salt unless you were raised that way!)

5 cups flour.

The night before (or morning), mix the starter, 1 cup flour, and 3/4 cup water in a large bowl.  Cover.  When it is bubbly in the morning, take a couple tablespoons out for next time.

To the starter, add the milk, egg, sugar, and butter.  Mix well but do not worry about butter lumps currently.  Mix in two cups of flour.  Cover and let get bubbly and the dough raises.  This may take an hour or two in a warm house. 

When bubbly, mix in the salt.  The butter should be soft enough to start to break up.  Mix in two cups of flour.  The batter should be becoming a soft dough.  You want a dough that is stiff enough to knead but still very soft.  Add a bit more flour possibly.  Turn out onto a clean floured counter or in a bread trough and knead until smooth.  Place in a large bowl and cover.  Let rise until double.

Punch down.  At this point you can shape or let the dough rise again.  The second rise actually makes the bread keep longer.  I normally do and it takes another couple hours (covered).

Butter a loaf pan or two, dependent on the size of the loaves you wish.  Shape the dough to fit in the pans.  Cover and let rise until puffy.

Once puffy, put the loaves into a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven and bake for 1 hour.  I do not preheat which is part of why the length of time for the baking.

Enjoy!

sourdough rye bread

My Beloved likes Reuben's, the sandwich.  We really have not found a rye bread he likes.  I keep trying different recipes.  This ones seems to be the best.  We both really like how it turned out.  The two bits that made a big difference is a very soft dough (almost a batter) and lots of time.

We now just have to get the makings since we have bread for it!

sourdough rye bread

Note:  I used a wheat sourdough because it was what I had but if you had a rye sourdough starter would be lovely.

sourdough starter

3/4 cup water

1 cup flour (rye if you have it :)  )

20 grams salt

50 grams barely malt syrup

350 grams dark malt beer (I used a pumpkin stout because that is what we had)

450 grams water

800 grams rye flour

The night before, mix the starter, 3/4 cup water, and 1 cup flour.  Cover and let it sit overnight.

The next morning, remove a bit of sourdough for the next time

Mix everything else into the rest of the starter.  Mix hard until very smooth.

Butter two loaf pans (because I did not have the right 1 gallon rye pan).  Split the batter between the pans.  Cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours.  I actually did 36 hours.

Remove from the frig and let rise at room temperature until the batter reaches the top of the pan.  I actually deflated the batter a bit by removing the cling wrap.  I would have let it sit a bit longer but I just did not have the time.

When the batter reaches the top fo the pan, preheat the oven to 320 degrees Fahrenheit.  Put the loaf pans in the center of the oven and let bake for 2 1/2 hours (yes, really).

Lovely sourdough rye.  It is even almost sour enough for my Beloved.  A slower rise would get it there.

My Beloved cannot wait to make Reuben's!

A very late post

I am working on a birthday present for a friend and am posting MUCH later then I should be.  My Beloved is out of town again so going to bed is not so......  I just do not like it.  

Remember, I read cookbooks?  I have reading Flour by Joanne Chang.  I have gotten ideas from her.  So far, I have not tried any of the recipes.  When I see recipes for potato bread, most potatoes are boiled.  She used baked so I figured I would give it a try.

Potato Bread

1 pound russet potatoes, baked, cooled and peeled.

sourdough starter

1 cup flour

3/4 cup water

1 cup plain hempmilk or water

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

4 cups flour

I baked my potato the day before.  I have made enough gnocchi and lefsa to know that handling hot potatoes is just not fun. 

The eight hours before or the night before, mix the sourdough starter, 1 cup flour, and 3/4 cup water in a large bowl.  Cover and let sit.  When you are ready to bake, take out two tablespoons of the mother, and put it in the refrigerator for your next batch of bread.

Put the potato in a bowl and mash.  Add the olive oil and mash some more.  It is okay to have lumps.

Add the potatoes, hempmilk, and sugar to the starter.  Mix well.  Add two cups of flour.  Mix in until it looks like pancake batter.  Cover and let sit until bubbly.  

After two hours, add the salt and two cups of flour.  It should be dough enough to turn out and start kneading.  I found this dough very soft and sticky, reminiscent of lefsa.  Do not worry about lumps!

When the dough has been kneaded smooth, gather up into a ball and put back into the bowl.  Cover and let rise until double.

Punch down, and let rise until double again.

Butter or grease a loaf pan (or two depending on the size of loaves you wish.  My loaf was quite large).  Shape the dough into the shape of a loaf.  Put in the pan and let rise for 45 minutes to an hour, covered.

Put the loaf into a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 1 hour.  (I do not preheat)

Yumminess.  This was cut while still warm and butter was added.  It is a very nice toast or sandwich bread.  It would be lovely made into rolls.

By the way, my wooden bread bowl saved my bottom!  I reached for my sourdough jar in the refrigerator and I had forgotten to put anything in it.  It was empty.  I had read a long time ago in Bread Alone that a wooden bread bowl would collect the yeastie beasties if not washed with soap.  I have not washed my wooden bowl with soap so I added 1 cup of flour and 3/4 cup of water.  You know what.  It worked.  I was ecstatic!  Good bread too!