rye bread

we recently made the tempeh rubens from veganomicon (amazing!) and what better time to test out a rye bread recipe? i looked around online and settled on one that appears to be from artisan bread in 5 minutes a day. the taste was perfect! it tasted just like deli rye bread. however, the loaves were small and did not rise as i had hoped. so i recently took another stab at it. instead of dividing the dough into multiple loaves as suggested i made one large loaf and changed the cooking and shaping method to that of my never-fail easy bread. it worked out great and we have one nice big 'ol loaf of rye bread perfect for sandwiches or just eating plain.

this recipe is really easy because, much like easy bread, it does not require kneading. and, even better, it only takes about 3 hours start to finish!

rye bread
(adapted from artisan bread in 5 minutes a day)
makes 4 1-pound loaves*
ingredients:
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons caraway seeds, plus more for sprinkling
1 cup rye flour
5 1/2 cups all purpose flour
cornmeal for sprinkling
cornstarch for cornstarch wash

mix the yeast, salt and caraway seeds with the water in a large bowl. mix in the remaining dry ingredients without kneading. cover with a towel and allow to rest at room temperature for about 2 hours. at this point, you can prepare the dough for baking or store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

dust the dough and the counter with flour and stretch the dough and fold the sides in over each other. stretch the dough again in the other direction and fold in thirds one more time. form into a nice little round.** place dough in a 9-inch pie plate, dusted with cornmeal, and allow to rise again for about 40 minutes.

preheat the oven to 500 with an empty pan of some sort on the shelf underneath the one you plan to bake on.

whisk together a tablespoon of cornstarch and 3 tablespoons of water. brush the top of the loaf with the mixture and sprinkle with additional caraway seeds.

when your oven is heated, place some ice cubes in the empty pan. bake the loaf for 10 minutes at 500, 10 minutes at 450 and 10 minutes at 350, removing the loaf from the pan for the final 10 minutes of baking. when done, the loaf should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. if it doesn't give it a few more minutes at 350. allow to cool before slicing or eating.

*as i mentioned i had some issues when i divided the dough. the first time i cut the recipe in half and made two loaves. the second time i halved it and made one loaf and was pleased with the result.
**was that confusing? watch the easy bread video for visuals.

-d