September 5, 2007 - 11:34am
Old World Sour Rye
While everyone is still in rye mode, does anyone have a more-or-less authentic recipe for Polish sour rye? An internet search yielded little. This is in hopes of pleasing Margaret, who at 81 still cherishes the memory of the (Old World!) Polish sour rye her neighbor used to bring to church suppers.
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I have the book called "Bread" by Ingram & Shapter.
Polish Rye Bread (don't know how sour) 1 loaf
2 cups rye flour
2 cups white flour
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 ounce fresh yeast
scant 2/3 cup lukewarm milk
1 teaspoon honey
whole wheat flour, for dusting
Mix the caraway seeds and salt in large bowl and make well in center. In small bowl or measuring cup, mix the yeast with the milk and honey. Pour into the center of the flour, add the water and gradually incorporate the surrounding flour and caraway mixture until dough forms. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead fro 8-10 minutes, until smooth, elastic and firm. Place in a large oil bowl and cover and let rise for about 3 hours or until doubled in bulk. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and punch down. Shape into an oval loaf and place on the prepared baking sheet. Dust with whole-wheat flour, cover and let rise for 1-1 1/2 hours or until doubled. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slash the loaf and bake for 30-35 minutes.
I just copied this from the book as it is written.
Thanks, Ramona! This looks good, and it's got that rye essential, caraway. I can throw in a little starter discard to give it some tang, so no worries there. It might get a bit sour from the three hour rise anyway. Really after 40 years Margaret's memory will probably say "close enough" as long as it's properly made. Thank you for finding this for me.
Browndog,
I've never heard of Polish sour rye, so you're talking to a real expert here. For what it's worth (maybe zero), I checked "Local Breads" by Daniel Leader, and there was a substantial index entry on Polish style breads. It included several sourdough polish rye recipes. It seemed like a promising source, but maybe it's way off the mark.
Bill
Hi, Bill,
Well, it's worth enough, because I've been planning to get that book and just wanted a little nudge. As I told Ramona, the only real requirement is a decent loaf of bread in the end. This sweet old woman will do the rest.
Browndog, I'm not familiar with Polish rye. But I came across a rye recipe in Dan Lepard's, The Handmade Loaf, that he calls a simple "sour" rye recipe. It uses dill pickle juice or as he calls it cucumber pickle juice for the sour part. It is not a sourdough recipe and it doesn't have caraway seeds. Not sure if this would be anything you're looking for.
You are welcome. I figured that you could change it in whatever way you needed to use your starter. I personally always add more caraway than a recipe usually calls for because we like the flavor. I even grind the seeds up a bit in a coffee grinder to bring out the flavor more.
Thanks, y'all,
Zolablue, I forgot about that recipe. I'll probably end up with a hybrid of these two or three recipes, and go find Local Breads as well. This lady is a friend of a friend who requested this rye when she heard I baked. She's a sweetheart. Luckily she and her live-in 'boy'friend winter in Florida so if I can keep her happy with a few loaves through October, I'll have the winter to refine.
Ramona, it's not rye if there's no caraway, and that's that.