Blog.EmealsForYou

Can You Go Home Again? A Non-Rant

November 13, 2008 at 10:56 am Leave a comment

With the holidays looming in the near future I begin to think about how we approach returning to the home we called home before we moved on.  Do we view “home” with different eyes?  Are we older, maybe and maybe not wiser?  Do the things that impressed us as youthful residents still impress us now?

We recently returned to New Jersey to share some time and meals with family and work a little on the “to-do-list” at my mother-in-law’s place.  Working on the list during the day and partying hardy with the family at night left us both refreshed and exhausted.  Catching up on the stories and happenings that just don’t translate well over the phone or through emails makes the drive well worthwhile.

On one of my trips to buy materials for the list I passed by the Trenton Farmer’s Market, a place where local farmers and businesses can sell fresh produce, homemade foods, flowers and more.  I hadn’t been in the Farmer’s Market in quite a while and as I needed some Italian bread for dinner I pulled in.  Wondering around brought back many memories of long gone days.  To my surprise the market had aged well and offered significantly more products then in bygone times.  A stop at the Italian People’s Bakery stall yielded 2 loaves of Italian bread and a loaf of Corn Rye Bread; the stimulus for this post.

Growing up Saturday morning was spent riding to the Eagle Bakery; trying to time it just right to allow the bread to cool enough to have it sliced and just before everyone else bought all of it; 9:30 seemed to work.  Years later I have tried to duplicate the taste and texture of this wonderful Corn Rye, almost but not quit getting it right.  I have tried different types and combinations of flour and additives; even making slings to hold the bread while it went through the delicate rising period; but I just couldn’t get it right.  This brings me full circle back to the Farmer’s Market, the bread was delicious, everything I remembered and then some.  See, I could go home again, if just a little.

P.S.  I somehow found myself back at the Farmer’s Market again before I left NJ and I bought two more loaves for the road.

For those of you who wish to try to make Corn Rye Bread, here is a recipe I got off the Internet.  I am going to give it a try; if you do please let us know what you think.

From: http://emr.cs.iit.edu/~reingold/ruths-kitchen/recipes/breads/ryebread.html

Jewish “Corn” Bread (Rye Bread)

Years ago my husband and I ate some corn-rye bread in Los Angeles. Corn-rye bread doesn’t have cornmeal in the bread itself, but the outside is coated with cornmeal. The texture of the bread should be dense without being dry, and the crust should be crisp and crunchy. For many years I tried to duplicate the recipe, but rye breads are tricky. They can be too dry and heavy or too light and airy. The rye bread in most supermarkets would never pass muster in a delicatessen. I was overjoyed to find this corn-rye bread recipe in Helen Witty and Elizabeth Colchie’s, Better than Store-Bought, Harper& Row, 1979.

Rye Sourdough Starter

48 hours before beginning rye bread, make this starter: Mix 1 T. dry yeast in 2 cups of tepid water. Beat in 2 cups of rye flour. Add a small onion, peeled and halved. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours. Remove onion. Beat in 1 cup tepid water and 1.5 cups rye flour. Cover and let stand for 24 hours longer. This can be used immediately or refrigerated for 24 hours. This preparation makes about 4 cups of starter (a bit more than required for the bread).

Corn Rye Bread

Yield: 2 very large loaves

• 1.5 cups warm water (110°)
• 1 pkg (1 T.) dry yeast
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 4 tsp. kosher salt
• 3 cups Rye Sourdough Starter, measured after stirring down
• 2 cups high gluten flour
• 3.5 cups all-purpose flour
• cornmeal
• 1 egg white beaten with 2 T. water for glaze
• 2 tsp. caraway seeds for topping and more for inside, if desired

The following directions are for hand kneading. If you have a heavy duty food processor, put all dough ingredients in work bowl after you have made the yeast starter. Add starter and combine. Dough will be fairly sticky. Don’t use a food processor unless it is quite durable; this is a very heavy dough.

Combine 1/2 cup warm water, yeast, sugar, and let stand until double (10 min.). Dissolve salt in remaining water. Mix in sourdough starter, then yeast mix. Add gluten flour and 2 cups of all-purpose flour and optional caraway seeds; make a soft dough. Spread 1.5 cups flour on kneading surface and turn dough out on it. Knead, adding more flour, to make a soft dough. Do not overknead. The dough should be only slightly elastic, even a bit sticky. Form dough into a ball, and put in an ungreased bowl. Cover with plastic, and let rise until double (1.5 hours). Knead, cover with towel, and let rest for 15 minutes. Divide into 2 parts. Form each into 12 inch loaf. Pinch seam, and place seam down on cornmeal-dusted sheet. Cover and let rise until 3/4 proof. Put a large pan with 2 inches water in oven. Preheat to 400 °. Place quarry tiles on upper shelf of oven. Brush loaves with egg-white glaze, slash with knife. Sprinkle seeds on top. Bake for 30 minutes on tiles. Brush again with glaze; bake an additional 20 to 30 minutes.

Entry filed under: Rants, Semi-Rants and Non-Rants. Tags: baking bread, corn rye bread, going home again, home for the holidays, rye bread.