I was looking for a good rye bread yesterday.

I had depleted my freezer supply.

Run out of the last baking I did in Chincoteague.

And I just can’t buy the insipid loaves they sell at the stores locally.

I went to the bulk food store to buy some flour,

and all they had was a very fine white rye flour.

Sad. SAD. downright sad.

So I bought some rye berries-

got out my grinding apparatus-

And ground my own dark rye flour.

The little red hen hasn’t got anything on me!

It took a little while because my grinder is

almost as old as I am.  And it is done by

hand- and I didn’t have it clamped down on

my husband’s new table.

But I ended up with almost a cup and figured

that would give me enough fiber and texture

in my loaves.

Then I fed up my sourdough and added 1 cup of

the white rye and 3/4 cup warm water and let that

prove overnight.

At the same time, I followed Joanna’s advice,

and poured hot water on another cup of white

rye and stirred until smooth and then left with

the sourdough starter poolish/sponge to prove

for at least 8 hours (overnight).

This morning I added the rough ground flour, 2 tsp.

sea salt, 2 TBS butter, and 1/4 cup sorghum molasses

and enough water and high gluten wheat flour to

give me enough dough for 2 loaves of bread.

I put the dough in a warm place to raise for an hour,

then shaped it into two loaves- one for the banneton

and one in a loaf tin, covered them loosely and then

let them raise another hour and a half.

I added some golden flaxseed for flavour and

beauty and made the mistake of cutting a vent

in the top.  I think it destroyed the integrity of

the gluten cloak and the loaf got sloppy in shape.

Then I baked them a 375 F for about 45 minutes.

Although I’m not entering them into a beauty

contest.

And I sliced it for a crumb shot before it cooled

completely.

All in all, I am quite happy!

I love rye bread with golden flax seed.

My new favorite bread!

This is my new favorite bread!

I made it today, using a sourdough

sponge and after several hours of

raising, added white and dark rye flour,

And 2 Tbs. of soft butter, and 2 Tbs.

of molasses and 2 tsp. salt, and 1 Tbs.

rapidrise yeast, and 1 cup HOT water.

I mixed it up and then added 1 1/2 cups

high gluten hard wheat bread flour and kneaded it for about 10 minutes.  It was a rather sticky

dough, so I oiled the bowl and let it raise for about 2 1/2 hours and then cut the dough in half

and added some golden flax seed that I had soaking in hot water.  The golden flax became soft,

and the water almost gelatinous.  I love the caraway flavor with rye so I added a Tbs of caraway

seeds as well, shaped each into a loaf and put into a greased loaf pan for a final raise.

It was ready in about an hour and a half and I baked them at 350 degrees F.   The loaves were

high and firm- and the flavor – PERFECT!

I had a little visitor for dinner tonight- Aiden asked for a second piece of bread after he had

finished his meal.

This is His new favorite bread, too, I think!

Another view!

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My friend, Joanna, posted this bread on her blog , Zeb Bakes .

Only hers looks a lot better than mine.

It is so very good.  I kind of fudged on her recipe, because it is in grams and I 

am a firm believer in cups and ounces, tablespoons, and  Farenheit temperatures.

So this is my recipe.

3 cups bread flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup rye flour

1 or 2 TBSP soft butter

2 tsps sea salt

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 tsps yeast

1 1/2 cups of sliced dried figs

1 cup partially chopped hazelnuts

1 TBSP fennel seed

(optional- 1/2 tsp finely minced rosemary)

Mix together flours and salt.  Make a well in the center of the flour and

pour water and yeast into the well.  Mix the yeast (add 1/2 tsp sugar, to get it started)

and let it sit for a couple of minutes to prove the yeast.

Add butter and mix well, adding warm water to get a pliable dough- up to 3/4 cup more.

When the dough is well mixed, add the figs, hazelnuts and fennel.

Knead for about 10 minutes and then place in a well greased bowl and cover.

Let this raise for about 2 1/2 hours- poke it with your finger to make sure it is flexible.

Shape into a ball and place into a bowl that has a piece of parchment paper molded into it.

Raise for another hour and a half-preheat oven and cast iron kettle to 425 degrees F

and then carefully lift edges of parchment paper and place entire dough into kettle and

cover with a lid.  Bake for 25 minutes with lid on- then lower the heat to 375 and take off

the lid and bake another 20 minutes.

It is great with butter, or toasted, and today we had ham sandwiches with it and they

were magnificent.