Rye Bread

Time for bread! Here is slightly changed recipe from the vagabondbaker.com which was based on Nigella's recipe - it's easy to follow and bred comes out delicious!

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Ingredients :

350 ml warm water (combine cold water with boiling water 1:1 to get "warm water" that won't kill your yeast)

1 tbsp brown sugar (vagabondbaker uses black treacle instead and Nigella uses muscovado)

2 tsp fine sea salt

250 g rye flour

300 g strong white flour

7 g dried yeast

2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil

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Preheat your oven to 190'C (fan)

Method when making by hand :

1. Take a big bowl. Put rye flour, white flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl. Whisk everything by hand to combine.

2. Pour water and oil and mix it using wooden or metal spoon, until it's roughly combined.

NOTE: If the dough looks too dry, not all of the flour is incorporated into the mix - add a tbsp of water, or more if needed. If it looks too wet, it looks like mashed potatoes rather than a bit sticky dough - add more flour. Each batch and kind of flour is different and sometimes you need to change the ratio slightly, even in the best recipes.

3. Start kneading/bringing dough together in the bowl. When it starts to come together take it out of the bowl and knead on your kitchen counter for 5-7 minutes until it's more like a dense and smooth ball of dough.

4. Coat your ball of dough in olive oil (1 tsp) and leave it in the bowl covered with cling film. Place the bowl in a warm spot for about an hour (until the dough doubles in size) or put the bowl in the fridge to rest it overnight.

5. After your dough has risen you have to give it a quick knead and form it's round shape.

NOTE: I am not a bread master yet, but from my experience the most useful tips I recived about shaping bread or rolls is - don't work it for too long, always keep the top smooth and lightly stretched (but don't tear it's surface) and keep your seal underneath the bread. If you don't have any idea how to do it - youtube is your friend. :)

6. Place your loaf on the baking tray with parchment paper and dust it with flour on the top.

7. Take serrated knife (or other sharp knife) and make a cut on top of your bread in one motion, about 1 cm deep. If you didn't go deep enough you can go over it once again.

8. Cover your loaf with clean tea towel and leave to prove again, for about 45 minutes.

9. Bake the bread in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes. When it's done it should have nice brown colour and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

10. Place the bread on a cooling rack. Let it cool down for at least 1-2 hours before slicing (it's gonna have better consistency, it will stay fresh longer, it's gonna use remaining heat and moisture as it should - it's worth the wait!).

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Method when making with stand mixer :

1. Take a bowl for your mixer. Put rye flour, white flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl. Whisk everything by hand to combine.

2. Pour water and oil and mix it using wooden or metal spoon, until it's roughly combined.

NOTE: If the dough looks too dry, not all of the flour is incorporated into the mix - add a tbsp of water, or more if needed. If it looks too wet, it looks like mashed potatoes rather than a bit sticky dough - add more flour. Each batch and kind of flour is different and sometimes you need to change the ratio slightly, even in the best recipes.

3. Put the bowl in your mixer and work the dough with the hook attachment for 6 minutes.

4. Coat your ball of dough in olive oil (1 tsp) and leave it in the bowl covered with cling film. Place the bowl in a warm spot for about an hour (until the dough doubles in size) or put the bowl in the fridge to rest it overnight.

5. After your dough has risen you have to give it a quick knead and form it's round shape.

NOTE: I am not a bread master yet, but from my experience the most useful tips I recived about shaping bread or rolls is - don't work it for too long, always keep the top smooth and lightly stretched (but don't tear it's surface) and keep your seal underneath the bread. If you don't have any idea how to do it - youtube is your friend. :)

6. Place your loaf on the baking tray with parchment paper and dust it with white flour on the top.

7. Take serrated knife (or other sharp knife) and make a cut on top of your bread in one motion, about 1 cm deep. If you didn't go deep enough you can go over it once again.

8. Cover with clean tea towel and leave to prove again, for about 45 minutes.

9. Bake the bread in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes. When it's done it should have nice brown colour and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

10. Transfer the bread to a cooling rack. Let it cool down for at least 2-3 hours before slicing (it's gonna have better consistency, it will stay fresh longer, it's gonna use remaining heat and moisture as it should - it's worth the wait!).

Enjoy!