Finnish Farmer Rye Bread

I have not posted in a while. Both of my grandchildren have lost interest in baking bread. I do still bake every Friday but without their involvement, I've felt less motivated to keep up this blog.

Recently, though, I've been experimenting with rye breads and want to share the recipes I am trying.

Last Friday I made Finnish Farmer Rye Bread from The Sunset Cook Book of Breads, published in 1980. (Note my copy says on the front that my mother paid $3.95 for this book - it's available on Amazon today from $22.95 - $118.95!)

I loved this bread and its funny way of tearing into bread sticks!

The recipe calls for:
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
2 T caraway seed (I was out so I used fennel seed)
1 1/2 cups rye flour
1 3/4 - 2 cups all purpose flour
2 - 3 T melted butter

First I stirred the yeast, sugar and water together and let them work for about 15 minutes.  Then I stirred in the salt, oil and fennel seed.  Next I added 1/2 cup rye flour and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and beat the mixture.  Gradually I beat in the rest of the rye flour and finally added 1 cup of the remaining all-purpose flour.

I kneaded the dough with my mixer and by hand on the counter, adding just enough flour to keep it from being sticky.

I put the dough in a pottery bowl to rise until doubled (45 minutes).

Turning the dough out, I divided it into two halves and shaped each into a smooth ball.  Then I patted each ball into a circle of about 8 - 9 inches in diameter.  I placed each circle on a rimless baking sheet to rise and covered them each with plastic wrap.

The dough rose for about 50 minutes this time.  I floured the handle of a long-handled wooden spoon and pushed creases into the circle about one inch apart.  I had to keep re-flouring the spoon handle.



















When it was all done, the circle looked like this (I smashed the first "stick" by not understanding what I was supposed to do with the wooden spoon handle):



Both circles were then brushed with melted butter (about half of the amount)

 
In the oven the bread had some spring, making the individual curved parts rise up and smooth out a little.
 


When the bread came out of the oven, I brushed it with more melted butter.  It looked and smelled delicious.  I took one of these loaves to my daughter's house for dinner and we ate the whole loaf!

 
This is a rye that I will definitely make again!

Norwegian Rye Bread

Dylan and I seem to be on a rye bread kick lately. So today we made Norwegian Rye Bread from A World of Breads by Doris Casella.



2 packages yeast
1/3 cup warm water
2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup molasses
2 T caraway seed
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 cups white flour
2 cups rye flour
2 cups whole wheat flour

With those ingredients, I'm sure you can imagine that this is a dark bread.

• Dissolve the yeast in the water.
  
• Heat the buttermilk (I put it in the microwave for 30 seconds).
  
• Add salt, molasses, caraway seed, melted butter and dissolved yeast to the buttermilk.
  
• Blend these ingredients and then start stirring in the flours gradually.
  
• Knead the bread until it is smooth and elastic.
  
• Place in buttered bowl to rise. Takes about 1 1/2 hours.

• When the dough is doubled, turn it out onto a floured board.
  
• Divide it into 2 parts. Shape each into a loaf and place in a buttered loaf pan.
  
• Cover and let rise until doubled again - about 1 1/4 hours.
  
• Brush the top of the loaf with melted butter.
  
• Bake in a 325 oven for 45 minutes until done.

It's beautiful and tastes rich and delicious.

Potato and Rye Vienna Twist - Part Two

The potato dough is on the left; the rye dough is on the right.

• When both doughs have doubled in size, gently turn them out onto a floured surface.
  
• Divide each dough into 2 equal parts.
  
• Roll each part into a 14 inch roll.
  
• Take a roll of rye and a roll of the potato dough and twist the two together, pinching the ends together.
• Place the twists on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover and allow to rise until doubled.
  

Previous to putting the bread in the oven, mist the bread with water and sieve them all over with 1 to 2 T flour. Note: I used 1 T and it was almost too much. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 35 -40 minutes.

Cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing. The slices will be part rye and part potato dough.

Potato and Rye Vienna Twists - Part One

This must be one of Beth Hensperger's favorite recipes because she put it in both Baking Breads: Old and New Traditions and in The Bread Bible. Making this loaf involves making two types of bread at the same time.

For the potato dough, you have to cook a potato and then puree it. Here's that part of the recipe:

1 unpeeled 6 ounce russet potato, washed and cut into large chunks
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
7/8 cup warm milk
4 T unsalted butter at room temp
1 T sugar
1 large egg at room temp
1 1/2 tsp whole aniseed
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 - 3 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour or bread flour

You cut the potato up and put it in a pot. Cover the potato with water and bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pan, and cook the potato for 20 minutes. Drain the potato, reserving 1/4 cup potato water. Puree the potato with a food mill or an electric mixer. This was Dylan's first experience with a food mill. He thought it was just amazing.

At first it's hard to turn the handle of the food mill while the potatoes are in big chunks.


Then it gets faster and easier! He thought this was great!



He likes to look at the flour on his hands when he is chief kneader.

• In large bowl, pour in the reserved 1/4 cup of potato water.
  
• Sprinkle the yeast over the potato water and stir until smooth.
  
• Add the potato puree (2/3 cup), milk, butter, sugar, egg, aniseed, salt, and 1 cup of flour.
• Beat until smooth, about 1 minute.
  
• Add 2 1/2 cups more unbleached flour and beat until smooth - about 3 minutes.
• Knead dough either with dough hook or by hand until smooth and springy.
  
• Put in greased bowl to rise.

Gourmet's Rye Walnut Rolls

Today I made Gourmet's Rye Walnut Rolls in this month's magazine on page 87. I didn't follow the recipe exactly because at my house we were all out of eggs by the time I got finished and I couldn't do the egg wash at the end. We also didn't have any onions (tomorrow is grocery day) so I used the lone shallot - a rather large one - that I had.

Regardless, my family loved them.

Here's the recipe:

1 medium onion, chopped (1 cup) (I used a large shallot)
1 T salt, divided
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cups whole milk
2 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 T honey
5 1/2 cups all purpost flour
1 cup rye flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 large egg beaten with 1 T water for egg wash (didn't have this)
1/4 cup nigella or poppy seeds (didn't have this either so tried black sesame seeds - which I did have!)

• Line baking sheets with parchment paper ( I didn't have any so I sprayed Pam on the baking sheets! - I was out of everything.)
• Cook onion with 1/4 tsp salt in oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat until softened - 4 to 5 minutes
• Drain onions in a sieve over a bowl, reserving the oinons.
• Stir milk into the onion oil in the bowl
• Stir yeast, warm water and honey in large bowl and allow to start to ferment
• Mix flours, pepper, milk mxture and the remaining 2 3/4 tsp salt into yeast mixture until soft dough forms
• Knead the dough until elastic and smooth (about 6 minutes).
• Pat dough into a 9 inch square and sprinkle with onions and walnuts (see picture below)
  

(note: the little hands belong to my grandson and chief kneader who helped me)

• Fold dough over to enclose filling and pinch edges to seal
• Knead to distribute the walnuts and onions for about two minutes.
  
• If anything peeks out (see below) just push it back in.
  

• Allow dough to rise until doubled
• Halve the dough and cover one half with plastic. Roll the other half into a 12 inch log and cut it into 12 pieces.
  

• Roll each piece into a ball and place it on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart
• Allow to rise, covered with a non-terry kitchen towel for about another hour
  

• Preheat oven to 375 and brush each roll with egg wash. Sprinkle seeds on the rolls (I used olive oil but the seeds didn't really stick. You can see how they looked at the end in the first picture).
• Bake 20 - 25 minutes and cool 20 minutes before eating

These smelled scrumptious while baking and turned out great - thanks, Gourmet, for focusing on rolls this month. Here's the third good recipe so far.

Making Rye Bread - Part Two

I decided to bake this bread in a basket that I have because I like the designs it makes on a round loaf. I bought the basket from King Arthur Flour years ago for this very reason. So although the recipe said to shape the bread into a round and let it rise on a cornmeal sprinkled cookie sheet, I let the bread rise in the basket. It needs to rise about 50 minutes to double in the pan.

Note: I looked all over the Internet for the kind of proofing basket I use and never found it. It's an old-fashioned kind that has to be kept dusted with flour when it is used. I did find many sources of bread proofing baskets such as this one, but most are plastic these days.

When the loaf had more than doubled, I turned it onto the cookie sheet and let it sit while the over preheated to 375.



The bread bakes for 35 - 40 minutes. It is a dense, lovely loaf, replete with the scent and taste of the caraway seeds.


The finished loaf. It was huge. I wished that I had divided the dough and made two loaves. The slices from this one can be cut in half to make a decent sized sandwich.

Making Rye Bread - Part One

Sometimes I am just in the mood for rye bread. My parents used to buy "cocktail rye" which was a small, longish round loaf and I would eat slice after slice. The caraway seeds have such a special taste.

This weekend, I was really in the mood for rye, so I made an "old World" recipe from one of my favorite old cookbooks: A World of Breads by Dolores Casella



The recipe has cocoa in it and makes a very dark bread. Here it is:

2 cups rye flour
1/4 cup cocoa (I used Ghirardelli cocoa
2 T yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup molasses
2 tsp salt
2 T caraway seed
2 T butter
2 1/2 cups bread flour or whole wheat flour

Combine the rye flour and cocoa. Stir with a whisk until mixed. Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Mix molasses, 1 cup warm water, salt, and caraway seed in large mixing bowl. Add the rye/cocoa mix, the proofed yeast, the butter and 1 cup bread flour or whole wheat flour.



Beat until the dough is smooth. Change to a dough hook or pour onto flour covered counter and knead in the rest of the flour. (I used the last of a bag of whole wheat flour - about 1/2 cup - and the rest bread flour). Place in greased bowl and cover. Allow to rise until double (about 2 hours).

Here's my dough in the rising bowl before I covered it with plastic wrap.