Rye Bread Recipe

I love the taste of rye bread. One of my favorite sandwitches is roast beef, muenster cheese, and mustard on toasted rye bread. Here is a recipe for rye bread:

1 cup rye flour (may use whole grain)
3 cups bread flour
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 packet yeast
3 tbsp melted butter
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1- 1 1/2 tsp caraway seed

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl and bring together to form a soft but workable dought (no sticky, and not stiff). If it is too dry add more water. Knead for 1 min. Let the dough rise in a greased bowl in a warm place for 2 hrs, then fold over itself to make a ball. Let it rise for 1 1/2 hrs more. No you can shape the dough into a free form loaf or put it in a loaf pan. I like free form. To make a round free form loaf (called a boule), simple form the dough into a tight ball by bringing all the edges together and squeezing them tight so the dough is round and smott ontop. Let the dough rise seam side down on a baking pan dusted with corn meal until it has doubled in bulk. Score the top and bake in a steam filled oven at 400 degrees for 30-35 min. enjoy!

Book Review: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

Artisan Bread in 5 Min a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoe Francois is an intersting bread book. I had first heard about their 5 min bread recipe in a youtube video a year ago, and When I saw the book in Barnes and Noble I just had to take a gaze. The basic idea of their method is that you make a wet dough, you let it rise without kneading, then you store it in the refrigerator for use as you knead it (haha get it "knead"). They say in the introduction that pre-mixed, pre-risen, high moisture dough keeps well in th refrigerator. This is true. I keep my pizza dough in the refrigerator for quite while. The fact theat they do not knead their bread is also solid considering that there are two ways to get gluten development: one being agitation and the other being time (just letting it sit like the New Yor Times no-knead bread that hit a few years back. They dispense alot of myths about baking, though I still stand by my punch down and re-rise method which they don't like. he book is extremely informative with clear recipes and lots of tips. One complaint (though mostly aestetic) is that it's lacking in pictures, and the pictures it does have are in dull black and white. I beleive alot of lerning to make bread is actually seeing what it should look like and not just reading descriptions. All in all if you enjoy making bread and like learning different approaches it isa good book to get. A clear value at 27.99 U.S.

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Cold? Have Bread and Chowder

The other day I had some of my homemade Manhattan clam chowder. The only thing I liked better than the chowder was the bread I had with it: My homemade Italian/French bread. here's the recipe...

1 1/4 cups warm water
1/4 cup dough starter
1/2 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups flour( bread, all purpose, or a mix)

Mix the ingredients together. it doesn't have to be smooth, just wet the flour( it should be quite wet. Let it rise until doubled, then fold it over itself three times to form a ball. Repeat this 2 more times for a total of 3 folds/rises. After the final rise turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and split into 3 sections. Shape each section into long loaves (you decide how thick you want them)being gentle with the dough, meaning don't break too many of the bubbles. Place the loves onto a baking sheet and let them rise until they are nearly double in bulk. score the top with a knife. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes in a steamy oven. To make your oven steamy place a pan of water at the bottom when you turn it on.

I cut the bread in half, then put pats of buttr on it and toast it in a hot oven until crispy. It freezes for up to 6 months if wrapped well.

Pita Bread Recipe

Me and my grandmother both love pitas. We'll stuff them with anything: meats; fish; cheese; vegetables; etc. One might think that they would be difficult to make, but this is not true. Remember my pizza dough recipe? Well you can use it to make good pita bread. Here's how. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees, and set a cast iron pan inside to get blazing hot. After the pizza dough has risen the first time form it into balls (the size of which will depend on how big you want your pitas). Roll the balls in flour and let them rest on the counter for 15 min. Next take the balls and roll them out quite thin, a 1/4 of an inch or preferably a little less. Then immediately throw the flatened dough into the hot pan and close the oven door. The oven and pan must be very hot for a big bubble to form. After a couple of minutes the pita will be puffed up like a balloon. When this happens it is ready to remove. Let it cool and enjoy!

Understanding Different Types of Flour: All Purpose, Bread, Cake

Gluten is the protein found in wheat. It is a combination of gliaden and glutenin (which together are 80% of the proteins in flour) in the presence of water. The amount of protein is the most important criteria for determining which flour to use. This is because it is gluten that gives dough and batters its structure. Low protein=tender, high protein=chewey.

 All purpose flour is the "go to" baking flour. As its name suggests it can be used for anything. It is made from a blend of hard and soft wheats. Hard (winter) wheats are high in protein. Soft (spring) wheats are low in protein. Most brands of all purpose flour have 3 grams of protein per serving.

Cake flour is made from soft wheat, and has 2 grams of protein per serving. It makes tender fluffy cakes.

Bread flour is made from hard wheat, and has 4 grams of protein per serving. Bread flour also often contains malted barley flour which improves yeast function and taste, and ascorbic acid to improve texture. Bread flour makes great bread, but all purpose is good too. My recommendation is to use bread flour where you want the final product to have some chewiness, like bagels, and to use all purpose flour where you want something more tender like rolls.

Note: King Arthur all purpose flour has 4 grams of protein per serving making it more similar to other brand's bread flour. Use it accordingly.

Shaping a Bread Loaf

Step 1: make the dough into a rectangle by gently stretching it out. Trim the rectangle if necessary so it if the same width as the pan.
Step 2: Roll the dough pressing down after each turn to make a log
Step 3: Seal the seam by pressing tightly, and placing seam side down in the pan.