Levy's Real Jewish Rye Bread

Saturday, March 18, 2006

A few days ago, I was talking to my neighbor Fred about my bread-baking project. He was completely uninterested, until it occurred to him to ask me if I could bake a nice crusty caraway rye bread. I said I didn't know if Rose had caraway rye as one of her 83 breads, but if she did, I'd be baking it sometime this year. He said if I baked some he'd be my friend forever and would do anything I ever asked him to do. (Or something like that). Well, naturally, I went home and checked the index. I found this Jewish rye bread with two tablespoons of caraway seed. So I baked it for Fred. It was crusty and chewy and absolutely delicious. This was the first time I used my new La Cloche bread baker--it's a heavy round stone pan and dome; when you use it, you get a good crust without going the ice cube and water spray route. In fact, I've had a whole serious of successes lately, which is making me a little nervous. I remember the rosemary foccaccia, and I think it must be about time for another disaster. I'm also realizing that I have to pick up the pace. The first quarter of 2006 is almost over. If I'm to stay on track, I should have baked 21 different breads by the end of March. Counting today's caraway rye, I have only 14 different varieties. That means I have 13 days to bake 7 loaves. The pressure is intense. Coming at the same time as the NCAA tournament, it's almost more than a body can bear.