Oh, Rye!

Day 124: My "stock-and-trade" breads are Birdseed Sourdough and Cinnamon Swirl, made roughly at a ratio of 12:1. Being sweet, Cinnamon Swirl is a treat as breakfast toast, but as they say, you'd even get tired of eating ice cream if you ate it every day. Occasionally, I'll make a loaf of whole wheat, and even more rarely, pitas to stuff with turkey, cranberry sauce and alfalfa sprouts for summertime sandwiches. I haven't made rye bread in donkey's years, but I've been craving a favourite spread of chopped black olives and cream cheese, and nothing suits that flavour combination better than a good caraway rye. Two Bread Days in one week have left the house smelling utterly divine!

Crow's Rye (single baguette roughly 10" x 5")

1.5 tsp. dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/8 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup molasses
1.5 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. shortening
175 ml. hot water
1.25 cups dark rye flour
1.5 Tbsp. caraway seed
2 cups sifted bread flour (which you probably won't use completely)

Soften the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water (not hot) for 10 minutes. Combine brown sugar, molasses, salt and shortening with 175 ml. hot water and stir until shortening is melted. Allow to cool to lukewarm. Stir in rye flour and caraway seeds. Mix well and add softened yeast. Add one cup of bread flour and stir to form a soft dough. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Knead for 10-12 minutes on a well-floured board, adding more flour as necessary, but do not force the dough to take more flour than it wants to accept (this is important with any bread). Place in a greased bowl and turn the dough to grease it all 'round, then cover and allow to raise in a warm place for 2 hours. Punch down and let rest for 10 minutes. Form into a baguette and place on a cookie sheet greased and dusted lightly with corn meal. Fold a piece of aluminum foil several times and form it into an oval ring 1" high around the dough to keep it from spreading. Cover and allow to raise another 1 1/2 hours. Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when rapped on the bottom. After baking, brush with butter for a softer crust. For the spread, combine chopped black olives and cream cheese. It's absolutely scrumptious!