Bavarian Rye

A simple, solid rye bread this week (albeit without some of the more traditional Bavarian methods, like air-tight wooden kegs for the dough to rise in, but still)...this one is almost comically easy to make, although it does require a certain amount of patience.

Get things going by combining 2 1/2 teaspoons of yeast, 1 1/2 cups of warm water, and 1 heaping tablespoon of salt. Slowly stir in as much of 3 3/4 cups of rye flour as you can...a bit tricky since the dough will be quite tough and sticky. Anyway, knead on a lightly floured board, but you really only need to knead this dough until all of the flour is evenly blended in. Place the dough in a buttered bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, cover that with tin foil, and place in a "semi-warm" area for the ridiculously long

First Rising (17 hours)
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Speaking of things that take 17 hours...this weekend is the start of one of my friend's first solo exhibition in a gallery in upstate New York, and I'm sure just by virtue of being on a long list in some address book I was sent an email invitation to the opening. It would have been great to go, and so I spent all of this week half planning, half idly pondering actually going. It got to the point where I had somebody lined up to cover my Friday afternoon teaching assignment, had the routes printed out, and had great plans of leaving at midnight, showing up just in time for the show, popping over to Williams to surprise everyone there. It would have been so much fun, I'm sure.

But then that annoyingly sensible part of me took hold, and realized that I was actually thinking of spending something like thirty five hours driving by myself over the course of three days, seeing friends for maybe a third as much time, with my course work piling up back in Illinois all the while. That just wouldn't have worked. Still, once you've had an idea like that and then decide not to go through with it, you feel like you're just no fun anymore, unwilling to put those half-crazy-but-inspired ideas into action. Like an old fuddy duddy.
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Unwrap the dough. As the recipe somewhat humorously notes, it will look like the dough "hasn't changed much, but punch it down anyway." Knead the dough (now quite easy to work with) for a few minutes, the place in a buttered 8x4 inch bread pan (perhaps reveling in the fact that, after a month, you finally have such a sized pan!). Place in an oven, turned to its lowest setting, with the door partly opened, and wait until the dough has doubled in bulk during the

Second Rising (1 hour and 15 minutes)
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So far I'm not too much liking the rhythm of this semester...the classes and the teaching is all fine, but their distribution throughout the week is not so great. All of my work is due Wednesday and Thursday, so there's this regular frenzy of work Sunday through Wednesday night as I try to get everything done, compounded by the fact that all of my office hours and most of my class time is also right at the beginning of the week. But then Thursday rolls around, and everything just evaporates. I have to teach early in the morning on Thursday, and then there is a break of a few hours before my one Thursday class, and then nothing. Oh, there's also another physics 101 section I teach on Friday afternoon, but having already gone through the material twice by that point in the week, I don't need to really do any prep work for that section. Really, it just seems strange having two or three days feel so empty when the other four or five are just a mad dash, filled with things to do. Hopefully I'll figure out something to do about that...unfortunately, though, so far all of the extra-curriculars I've found that might be interesting also have all of their meetings at the beginning of the week, and that just won't do....hmm...
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Heat oven to 375. Brush the top of the loaves with a mixture of one egg yolk beaten into about a tablespoon of milk, and bake for 50 minutes. Set a new record by waiting less than a minute before cutting a slice and eating piping hot. Marvel at how easy the bread is to slice.

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Tasting verdict: I'm very excited, as this tasted (more or less) just like a bakery-made rye bread! A rather small loaf, and maybe it doesn't look quite as nice (although I kind of like the cracked appearance of the sides!), but quite tasty, with an excellent crust, and very dense.

Currently reading: Potential advisors' papers...still looking.

Next week: Maybe a different rye? Or maybe something else altogether....