But really- rye bread! How delicious! I was tired of having to ration out my last frozen loaf of wheat so decided to take matters into my own hands. But for fun I wanted to try something different as I've been reading quite a bit about the benefits of other whole grains, such as rye and pumpernickel. (Check out information here and, well, any place you can find nutritional info.) Considering I prefer rye, guess what got the first test run.
The recipe itself is pretty easy. A first time breadmaker, I think I nailed it despite worrying that my dough was too wet. It may have been, but I've also read that rye dough tends to be stickier than others. So... we'll see. But if you're afraid to try it yourself- don't be! The smell filling your home is worth every minute of baking.
A note though-- call it some introspection-- before the recipe:
The other day I was telling someone about this blog and my Au Naturale quest as it came up in conversation. As has occurred other times I've mentioned the blog, my quest prompted a bunch of questions-- What are you doing? Why are you doing it? etc., etc.
These questions from this particular person, however, seemed a bit more cynical. "So you're going organic?" Well, it's more than that, I explained, with the quick 5-sentence summary of the full Au-Naturale goal. My response was followed (with a disclaimer that he wasn't trying to discount what I am doing) by, "What exactly is your definition of organic?" and "How do you feel this is better for you?"
As I've said from the start, this is more than just picking from the organic aisle of the produce section. This is more than just grabbing a package that says "organic" or "natural ingredients" on it. The way we, as a society, make our food has changed dramatically in the past 75 years, and not in a good way. For me, this is not about embracing a fad but going back to the way humans are supposed to eat. So this is about something much bigger, eliminating anything and everything that doesn't come directly from nature, and either he didn't hear it or I didn't explain it well enough.
The next day I went to my local Dominicks to pick up some staples and decided to make a quick detour to the bread aisle. I grabbed a packaged loaf of beefsteak rye bread and looked at the ingredient list. Below is what I saw:
You can't really read the ingredients, but you can tell that there are so many that it stretches across the loaf and even goes so far that it gets cut off by the twist-tie holding it closed. There's got to be, what, over 20 ingredients there? More? Guess how many ingredients my rye bread has.
Eight.
So what's the difference between a loaf of bread that needs 20 ingredients and one that needs only 8? Chemicals. Chemicals that don't belong in our bodies. Chemicals that aren't necessary to the making of the actual bread itself. The difference is that the beefsteak has to be able to live longer on the shelf, both in your supermarket and at home. It needs an anti-mold element for that. It needs yet another ingredient to protect its color as it sits and ages. And because it has to be protected from the elements in the factory in which it was created, such as rat droppings and the odd worker who rubbed their nose before touching it, it needs one or two more ingredients for that. No company wants their name associated with yet another salmonella recall.
And I say: who needs it?
I know that of course there is only so much that even I can control when making bread, or anything for that matter, at home. The organic flour I bought had to go through a factory somewhere, too. I am fully aware that to really and truly live the complete Au Naturale lifestyle, I need to pick up and move to a farm and eat only what I can grow on my land. But in lieu of doing that, I just know that I don't need 20 extra ingredients/chemicals that just simply shouldn't be there.
A final note (and thank you for sticking with me on my soapbox). The doubter that brought about these questions was not convinced. And that's fine. The one thing I plan to not do with my personal quest is to prosthelytize and judge others for not doing the same thing as me. If he wants a slice of that beefsteak rye, that's his prerogative and I will not judge him for it. Truly, I believe, to each their own.
And with that, I bring you Caraway Rye Bread. I used as many organic ingredients as possible and whole wheat all-purpose flour instead of white.
Ingredients
Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.
2. Add brown sugar, caraway, oil, salt and remaining water; mix well. Stir in rye flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour; beat until smooth. Add enough remaining all-purpose flour to form a soft dough.
3. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.
4. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. It will look like this:
5. Punch dough down; .Shape into a rectangular cube and place into a greased 9 in. loaf pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes.
6. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
alternate option for #5: Punch dough down; divide in half. Roll each half into a ball, place in two greased 8-in. round cake pans. Flatten balls to a 6-in. diameter. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes
The alternate was part of the original recipe, but a) I prefer my bread in loaf form rather than round form, and b) some have said it doesn't rise as high when you split into two loaves. Try it either way. Enjoy, and tell me what you think!
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