Seeded Rye Bread

I find a change of scenery can sometimes spark a renewed interest in the familiar. This recipe for Seeded Rye Bread was born out of a trip to Copenhagen and an instant love for the gorgeous Rugbrod I encountered on my visit there.  

The city of Copenhagen is full of amazing design to look at, open friendly people to chat to and some of the most beautifully plated and oh so delicious food I have had to date. I loved that many places lavished dishes with visual attention and created unique visual compositions but  when the flavors hit my palette there was a welcome familiarity of flavors. Of the restaurants and cafes we visited, there was a consistent focus on whole, healthy foods which I was also very excited to find. I particularly loved Grod, Coffee Curators & Host.

                  

Many places served up thick slices of Rugbrod with various dishes. It is a dark hearty fermented style loaf bread. Scattered through the bread are nuts and seeds of various types and a gorgeous crisp top crust. I found it particularly satisfying dunked into a hot bowl of soup during one of my lunches. But is also conjured up thoughts of an old familiar recipe for Irish brown bread and I begin thinking about marrying different aspects of the breads together. 

The resulting bread comes together quickly even though there many ingredients. I prefer to measure the ingredients by weight as I find it the most efficient and accurate method. 
It is also preferable to bake the bread in two small loaf tins. It is dense and the baking times are more accurate when using 4" x 8" loaf pans. Grease them well on the bottom and sides. 

7oz dark rye flour
2oz self raising white flour
2oz oat bran
2oz porridge flakes 
2oz sesame seeds
2oz pumpkin seeds
2oz sunflower seeds plus a handful to sprinkle on top of the bread
15 hazle nuts halved 
1 1/2 teaspoons bread soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp brown sugar
1 egg beaten 
285ml butter milk 
285ml of plain natural yogurt 

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl to combine. In a separate bowl, lightly beat egg then add buttermilk and yogurt. Stir to combine. Slowly combine wet into dry mix. IT will be quite thick and sticky but be sure to stir well so that there are no pockets of dry ingredients at the bottom of the bowl. If the mix needs more moisture add a tablespoon or two more yogurt. 

Pour equally divided mixture into the two greased loaf tins. Sprinkle remaining sunflower seed on top of each and gently pat into the mixture. 

Bake at 200 celsius/400 fahrenheit for 1h 15m - 1h 30m (depending on your oven temperature or until a tester stick comes out clean.  After 45 take the tins out of the oven an cover with foil. Then return to bake for the remaining time. 

fruits of labor. first feast of 2011

last night was our first dinner together at home of 2011.

simplicity, homemade and good wine were on the menu. smoked salmon, oysters, cheese, capers and red onion accompanied by homemade irish brown bread and fresh satsuma mandarin and a light but earthy syrah.

after all the holiday travel and eating out it was so nice to finally be home again sharing a meal - this dinner was the perfect way to set off the new year. we make a conscious decision to eat at home as much as possible. We also eat meat only about once a week if that. I have been reading Anthony Bourdain's newest book "Medium Raw: a bloody valentine to the world of food and the people who cook" and while its written in his expectedly brash and sometimes over the top style he raises some interesting points about the importance of featuring meat as the main part of the meal or as the case may be moving away from it as the focal point.

we are lucky enough to live in a part of california that is food-centric and always has an amazing selection of fresh vegg. making it easier to choose an eating style which features more veggies and very little meat. im by no means a vegetarian (though i was earlier in life for about 10yrs) but personally i notice a huge difference in the way i feel physically when i eat less meat and more vegg.

I am going to be more diligent in 2011 about doing more fruits of labor posts and sharing more recipes. I will also be introducing a new weekly column - Wednesday Wine List look for that to start next week!

find the recipe for the brown bread here.

glasses pictured can be found in the shop

fruits of labor. Irish Brown Bread

the fall season is well upon us here in San Francisco. With chilly temps and driving rains you can be sure to find me in the kitchen most days. Nothing fills a house better than the smell of baking bread.

Inspired by these lovely photographs via eastsidebride by Susanna Howe. im sharing a very special recipe- for irish brown bread. The recipe came to me via SOS's mom and what i love about it is that it has been worked on and adapted over the years by her and her 8 sisters to reach its current state.

below is the recipe. enjoy and let me know if you have any questions I would be happy to help!

This recipe makes 2 loafs and I use 8 x 4" loaf pans. see them here.

wholefood bulk section is a great place to find many of these ingredients.

Pre heat the oven to 400.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

1 3/4 C course ground whole wheat or brown flour.

1/2 C self rising white flour

1/2 C oat bran

1/2 C steel cut oats (not the instant kind)

1/4 C sesame seeds

1/4 C wheat germ

30 hazelnuts halved

2 tbsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp brown sugar

mix all of these together gently.

Next begin to add in wet ingredients

1 pint of buttermilk

2 eggs beaten

3/4 C plain yogurt

mix all ingredients together very well and pour into greased loaf pans. batter should be quite wet. like a cake batter almost.

Bake for 45 mins at 400.

After 45 mins remove pans from oven and cover tops with tinfoil.

return pans to oven and continue baking for another 20 minutes.

total cooking time 1h 5m.

remove as soon as possible from pans and let cool.