Adventures with Rye Part 8: Rye Rolls

Before I say anything about these freshly baked rye rolls, I must first wish myself a Happy Blogoversary! Three years ago, on a blazing hot summer day in Bar Ilan, this blog was born. It's been so much fun baking and keeping it up. I hope to even with the army ahead of me. Here's to three more! Once more in Jerusalem for Shabbat, I knew for certain that I wanted a caraway flavored bread. At once a total stranger to the flavor of caraway, I now love its hard-to-pinpoint flavor. I searched all of my books for a simple caraway bread but didn't come up with much. It looked to me like if I wanted caraway, I was going to have to take rye with it. Which was fine by me. Having bought a kilo of rye flour, it was time to start putting it to use, anyway. Greenstein's Secrets of a Jewish Baker had the perfect recipe for Rye Rolls. Simple, easy and full of caraway. Bingo! I made the dough last night, allowed it to ferment overnight in the fridge and baked them this morning. I couldn't resist having a couple for lunch today and my were they divine. Perfect sandwich bread texture, soft but with a good chew and great flavor. I made 9 large rolls instead of 18 small ones because I like to be able to use them in a sandwich. These rolls are off to Yeastspotting. Check it out!

Water Rolls

 After my draft on Thursday, they sent me home to wait for news on what my job will be. It was nice because I was home for Shabbat, but now it's Tuesday and after going back and forth for a couple of days, I'm still waiting. I took the opportunity erev Shabbat to throw together a batch of rolls (even though I was going out for all meals) and it was really good I did because they have been serving as my source of sustenance on my long trips back and forth to the base. Thank God for egg salad sandwiches otherwise I'd have starved over there while waiting in the blistering heat. The recipe for this is actually a great one from Beth Henspberger's Bread Bible. A simple water roll that's perfect for sandwiches, it's a recipe I've been looking for for awhile. I omitted the rice flour topping and instead used an egg yolk glaze and topped with sesame seeds. I made the dough in the mixer and because it has a nice amount of yeast coupled with the insane heat, the dough rose fast. I would, however, reduce the yeast next time to get some better flavor. But I'm not complicating. I also want to try these with fruit juice, so I'll post about those when I do. Until then, happy sandwiching and beat the heat! These are off to Yeastspotting!

Gingersnaps

I made these cookies last weekend to pair with the plum and mango sorbets. I know I'm a bit late in posting them but that's because life has been busy. In fact, just yesterday, I went into the army and as I type this I'm sitting in uniform. I don't know how often I'll be able to post, let alone bake, but I'm not letting this blog go! Anyway, everyone loved these cookies on their own, forgoing eating them with the sorbet. Oh, well. The recipe comes from Bakewise, although I followed someone's tip to use turbinado sugar, and that's what I used. I tasted a tiny bit of them and they were robustly flavored, with an almost hind of deep caramel. I guess the overnight chill in the fridge really benefited them. If you want really snappy gingersnaps, bake the full amount of time. If you prefer some softer, pull them out a bit earlier.

Mango Sorbet

Here's the mango sorbet that I promised you. Originally I intended to make an apricot sorbet but the supermarket that I went into Thursday night was out, indicating that apricot season was effectively over. Disheartened, I looked around and saw mangoes. Now, I personally am really not a fan of mango at all, but I walked over to them anyway and they were perfectly ripe. Mango sorbet it would be. I picked up three of them and took em on home. Like the plum sorbet, this was super easy to make. Well, almost super easy. I don't have much experience cutting mango so I thought I would cut myself a couple of times. The other challenging part for me was straining the puree. The recipe doesnt call for it straining but I wanted super smooth sorbet so I took the time to do it. A bit messy and time consuming, but definitely worth it. More so than the plum sorbet, the mango sorbet really was really true to the fruit's flavor. I omitted the rum from the recipe and substituted lemon juice for the lime juice and the result was still great; clean and fresh. If you're looking for something easy to make, freeze your ice cream maker work bowl today so you can have refreshing sorbet tomorrow! In this summer heat, how can you resist??

Maryetta's Oat Bread

As I'm generally do when I'm home for Shabbat, this weekend I made bread for Friday night dinner in addition to the challot for Shabbat day. (Those came out beautifully but unfortunately, way too dry.) Browsing through some of my books, I came upon Maryetta's Oat Bread in Beard on Bread and did some research on it. The blogs that I found featuring this recipe raved about it. Having everything on hand, I decided to make a half batch. I am so glad I did, because all those blogs turned out to be sooooo on the mark. This bread was one of the best loaves of bread I have ever made. The crumb was soft but still sturdy, with slight but present creaminess from the flecks of oats, and a subtle sweetness from the oats and date honey. This bread never made it past Friday night, at all, in fact I think I had most of it, but I imagine it would be awesome toasted. I did adapt it slightly. To supplement my lack of whole oats I used some quick cooking as well, and I used date honey instead of molasses. I made a half batch, yielding one 9 inch loaf and two rolls. You could scale the dough differently, making an 8 inch loaf and more rolls. As soon as I get my hands on some more oats, I'm making this again. Until then, this loaf is off to Yeastspotting!