Damn That's Rye Rolls

Rye reminds me of a taste before my time. Eating rye bread takes my memory as far back as it is able and some atoms even farther than that. Like I'm knocking up against my great-great-great-grandmother's door in Sweden, even, standing next to a bay with a slice of sött svartbröd and a filet of smokey herring, watching a ship with sails turn into headwind for the new world. 


Also, let's be real, rye figures predominately in this blog's title. I'd thought to myself from the very beginning that Damn That's Rye should have a pan-ultimate, 100% rye bread récette. Do I have that? Not yet: figure these rolls as a step towards Damn That's Rye's destiny. For starters, I did not have a starter, and I feel that any definitive bread recipe needs that.  

I'm coming at you with this ready to get better, at rye, at posting, and other indoor sports.

*

While the dough was proofing the yeast and the molasses and the warm room... and January light! Let's start again, I thought to myself. Let's start again with something dark and full of heart. This year there will be a new kitchen, and it will often have bread, and it will have light, and we'll feed the warm pieces to each other.

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The crumb is not as porous as I would like, but the flavor is spot-on. Other things to work on: the crust. Perhaps baking the rolls in a lidded dish would make for something less un-giving. Once you get inside the roll, all is rye with the world, but the crust is a little much for a roll I would say. Inspiration for the rolls came from Root Simple and from Lemon and Anchovies, the latter more so for the rye/spelt combo, since a new year means better grains.

Rye Rolls

Makes 1 dozen

1 3/4 lukewarm water

2 teaspoons instant yeast

2 cups rye flour

1 1/2 cups barley flour

2 tablespoons molasses

2 teaspoons caraway seed

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

zest of one orange or two clementines 

1 tablespoon olive oil

butter for brushing

Mix the dry ingredients together, including the yeast, in a generous bowl. Drizzle the molasses over the mixture. (This just looks super Pollack). Then add the seeds, zest and water. Mix until you get a wet dough, then allow to rest for 20 minutes. Return and mix, then let rest and repeat twice more. (That's one hour of intermittent mixing and resting). Add more rye flour and knead the dough until the round completely absorbs the moisture. Cover and let rise for 4 hours. 

Pre-heat the oven to 400° F. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil. Form balls about the size of your palm and  place on the baking sheet. Score with a butter knife, cover and let rise 30 minutes longer. 

Bake 25-30 minutes. As the cool, brush with butter and sprinkle with salt.*

*I forgot to incorporate the salt into the mixture earlier, and I was all woe is me, but I actually like it on top better, and in any case, salt can affect proofing. 

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