German Bread and other musings

So someone at work asked me today how my journaling is going. I looked at her with a blank stare...Journaling? Oh, food and exercise journal! Yes, that is going really well! I've been able to write down what I am eating every day and I am also recording my exercise. Prior to the Christmas holiday, I was considering doing a 21 day Vegan diet. However, as I considered it, I had to think about what I could easily do and maintain. A new diet with new foods, with boys who would not have been supportive of that would have been much more difficult. So I made the decision to make my commitment to exercise and journaling what I am eating.

Another change that I am making is having a BAS every day for lunch. BAS is "Big-a$$ Salad." I've been reading a great blog by a woman who lost 135 pounds and has kept it off for 5 years! She eats a BAS every day for lunch. So I've done that every day this week. Lots of creative ideas and thoughts. Today I had the soup I made yesterday on top of my salad at lunch. I also do something very strange - I put my salad in the microwave for about 30 seconds. It takes the edge off of the cold and makes it so much more enjoyable for me.

There is a great German Bakery in Colorado Springs. I love love love their rye bread. It's delicious and I've been on a quest to find a recipe that replicates their bread. I think that I found it! Fair warning - it's pretty time-consuming, but the time is really in letting it rise and do its stuff.

I followed the directions exactly as written and OMG, it's delicious! I'm making more next weekend - two loaves! I may never buy bread from the store again. I love the fact that it only has 1 Tablespoon of oil in the whole loaf and has honey, not white sugar.

Bauernbrot

1 large loaf

from http://www.whats4eats.com/breads/bauernbrot-recipe

Ingredients

Dough Starter

• Bread flour -- 3/4 cup
• Rye flour -- 3/4 cup
• Honey or malt syrup -- 3 tablespoons
• Water, lukewarm -- 1 1/2 cups
• Instant yeast -- 1/2 teaspoon

Flour mixture

• Bread flour -- 2 1/2 cups
• Caraway seeds -- 2 tablespoons
• Salt -- 1 1/2 teaspoons
• Instant yeast -- 1/2 teaspoon
• Oil -- 1 tablespoon
• Cornmeal -- for the baking tray

Method

1. Add the ingredients for the starter to a large bowl and mix together until smooth. Set aside for 10 minutes for the yeast to activate.
2. While the starter is resting, mix together the remaining ingredients except for the oil and cornmeal. Pour the flour mixture over the starter. Do not stir. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean towel and set aside for at least two hours and up to five hours. The starter will bubble up through the flour mixture.
3. Add the oil to the flour mixture and use a wooden spoon to stir the flour mixture into the starter. As the mixture comes together, remove the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead for about 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. The dough might be a little sticky. Knead in just enough extra flour to keep the dough from sticking to your hands.
4. Set the dough aside to rest for about 10 minutes, then knead for another 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Set the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl and lightly oil the top of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean towel and set in a draft-free area of the kitchen to rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Punch down the dough and lightly knead it 3 or 4 times. Form into a ball, return to the bowl, cover and let rise for another 45 minutes or so.
6. Preheat oven to 450°F and set the shelf at the lowest level. Put a small metal pan in the oven (you will use this later). Lightly press down on the dough and form it into a ball. Sprinkle the cornmeal onto a baking sheet and set the dough onto the baking sheet. Lightly oil the top of the dough and cover it with plastic wrap. Set aside to rise for another hour.
7. Use a sharp knife or razor blade to slash the top of the dough in 3 parallel lines about 1/4-inch thick. Then slash with another set of 3 lines perpendicular to the first set. Use a spray bottle to mist the dough with water.
8. Set the baking sheet in the oven and pour about 1 cup of water into the small pan to create steam. Shut the door immediately and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 400°F and bake for another 35 to 45 minutes. (An insta-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the loaf should register 190°F.)
9. Set the loaf on a cooling rack and let cool completely.

This is the starter bubbling up through the flour mixture

This is the final loaf of bread - I should have made the cuts deeper. I forgot to take photos in between. The Broncos were playing the Steelers. I was lucky to get this!