Polish Rye Bread

Here's an easy one to get started with, or at least it should be. I seem to have more difficulty in guessing the wetness of the dough and how much to work it, it always leaves me slighty worried as to whether it's going to be too stodgy.

Great bread though, the honey and milk make it, and the salt and the caraway cut through beautifully.

Ingredients

225g Rye Flour

225g White Bread Flour

2 tsp Salt

1 Sachet (7g or 15g if using fresh) Yeast

2 tsp Caraway Seeds

1 tsp Runny Honey

140ml Luke Warm Milk

140ml Luke Warm Water

Sieve the flours and the salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre to pour your liquids into. Combine the milk, honey and yeast and mix well until the honey is fully dissolved into the milk and the yeast is creamed in. Pour the mixture into the well in the flour and flick some of the flour from around the edge over the top. Leave this to "sponge" for about 15 minutes to activate the yeast and wake it up. It should be a bit bubbly and frothy.

Pour in the water and incorporate all the flour to make a dough. It should be smooth and slightly elastic. Work it for about 10 minutes on the worktop and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl.

Cover the bowl in cling film and leave in a cool place to prove for about 3 hours. It should double in bulk.

Prepare a baking tray with some lightly oiled baking paper. Tip the dough out onto the worktop and knock it back (literally, punch it). Shape it into a sort of oval cushion shape and place it on the baking tray. Cover this lightly in cling film and leave for an hour to second prove.

Pre-heat the oven to 220degC. Lightly dust the loaf with flour and with a very sharp knife make 2 slashes along the length of the loaf.

Bake it for 30-35 minutes. It's done when tapping it on the base makes a hollow noise. Cool it on a wire rack.

It's a perfect loaf to make the day after a roast post joint because it goes brilliantly with the cold meat, so good for using up leftovers at lunchtime.

A suitable bread for eating just before lent.