Dark Rye Bread

My first attempt at making dark rye bread...you know that yummy brown bread that they give you before your meal at Outback? Yeah...it's that kind of bread. YUM.

It took me forever to find rye flour...who'd have guessed I'd have to go to 3 different stores to find it? I ended up finding it at Whole Foods and it was quite expensive. I also heard afterwards that Bulk Barn carries it.  It's most likely cheaper at Bulk Barn, but judging by the name of the store, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find a small package of it. I really don't need 50 lbs of rye flour.

The recipe!

Dark Rye Bread

Adapted from AllRecipes

Ingredients
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees to 115 degrees)
1/4 cup molasses
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup rye flour
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 tablespoon caraway seeds (I didn't use these)
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour – divided use
Oats – optional for decoration

Method
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the molasses, butter, rye flour, cocoa powder, caraway seeds, salt and 1 cup of all purpose flour. Mix to combine. (I don't have a stand mixer anymore, so my tried and true method is bowl, wooden spoon, knead by hand. Works like a charm, and I've learned that I love, love, love kneading bread.)

Switch to the dough hook attachment and process/knead until the dough is smooth, elastic and climbs up the hook. Add remaining flour only as necessary to achieve the right consistency. You may not need the full amount of remaining flour – this is subjective. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for a few moments then collect dough into a ball.


Place dough ball in greased bowl, turning once to ensure the top is greased. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size – about 2 hours. (I found mine to be doubled in less than that - probably only and hour or so.)

Punch down dough, shape into a loaf about 10” long.
Place loaf onto a greased or Silpat lined baking sheet, cover and let rise until doubled in size – about an hour. ('Shaping' didn't work for me, so I rolled it out and then rolled it up.)

Pat on / press in optional oats. And bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes or until bread sounds hallow when tapped. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire rack. (The bread wasn't sticky enough to hold the oats on after it had risen for an hour. I used a little cooking spray and sprinkled the oats on, but they still didn't really stick. Next time, I'd roll the loaf in the oats before it rises, it was stickier at that stage.)

And that, as they say, is that. Fresh, delicious, dark & hearty, rye bread.

BLT (partly) from scratch

Today was the day that the first tomato was ripe enough to eat. So what did meal we choose to honour the first tomato of the season?

BLT's of course.  But not just any BLT, oh no. One made with fresh, delicious homemade french bread.

It unfortunately occurred to me AFTER I finished making the bread that I should have taken pictures and posted the recipe for my "Life from Scratch" blog...duh. Oh well, next time. For now, I'll just make you drool with pictures of the finished product...


ooooh...aaaaahhh...mmmmm...

The BLT's turned out absolutely delicious. The tomato was so sweet and juicy, the flavour actually overwhelmed the taste of the bacon, and THAT'S saying something. On another page, I have my list of goals, in which I talk about having a farm with animals and gardens. I believe I will have really achieved my goal when I can make a BLT 100% from scratch. Tomatoes and lettuce from my garden, bacon from my own pigs, mayonaise made from eggs from my chickens, and bread made with wheat from my fields. THAT is my goal. Our BLT's today weren't 100% homemade, but it's a step in the right direction and holy-moly they were good.

Changing garden

The garden is going bananas. (mmm, bananas.) The squash plants are about 2 days from declaring war on the house, and if that happens we're done for.

It's a jungle in there!

BUT - we have figured out what the mystery squash are! we've got butternut AND spaghetti squash!

Butternut                                                      Spaghetti

Also - drumroll please - we've got our first ripening tomato! In the coming weeks we're going to be inundated with more tomatoes than we can eat! I can't wait!

BLT's here we come!

The flowers in the garden are in full summer mode. The delicate flowers of spring have faded, and the hardier summer flowers are beginning to bloom.

Unfortunately, this year the squirrels got most of the apples before they were even ripe, but I've been watching this apple for weeks, and it's finally ripe! (or as close as we're going to let it get, before the squirrels decide to go after it.) We ate it yesterday and it was delicious!