Recipe: 'On the Fly' Rye

Baking is a science. Or is it? Conventional wisdom dictates that baking is a precise and exact science, and that you can very quickly and easily mess it up. Lacking the ingredients for my usual bread (whole wheat), I decided to tempt fate and the bread gods by improvising. No, I did not add my own little twist to an existing recipe. I made up my own recipe! On the fly (hence the name)!

I made up this recipe last week pretty much as I was making it, writing things down as I added them. It's loosely based off of several other bread recipes (and more importantly, the ratios between the ingredients). To my surprise, it totally worked out. And, just to be sure, I made several more loaves to make sure that the recipe was actually successful before posting it here.

'On the Fly' Rye

3/4 cup warm (105° F) water
1/2 Tbsp. yeast
1 cup rye flour
2 1/4 cups bread flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup milk

- Mix water and yeast. Let sit for 3-5 minutes.
- In a bowl, mix both flours, sugar and salt. Add in the liquid ingredients (including the yeast/water mixture).
- Turn dough onto a well floured surface. Knead for AT LEAST 5 minutes (I try to go for 10, but I'm lazy). Dough should be just slightly sticky. If too dry, add water; Too wet, add more flour.
- Put dough into an oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and leave it to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
- Punch down dough and shape into a loaf (or place it in a loaf pan). Let it rise for 20 minutes.
- Slash the top of the loaf with a sharp knife several times. Bake at 400° F for 30 minutes, or untill the bread is golden-brown and and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Let the bread cool before eating.

Makes 1 loaf.

If I remember to take photographs next time I bake this, I'll put them up.