Listen & Be Heard Weekly Archives

[tag]Pumpernickels[/tag] are peasant breads that go way back to in the history of middle Europe, especially Germany.

The yeast starter
2/3 cup warm H2O
2 TBLS Dry yeast
1 TBLS Sugar

For the Breads
1 1/2 cups Sourdough starter
1 bottle dark beer (Iprefer Stout or porter)
3 cups unbleached white flour
3 cups pumpernicel flour (if unobtainable, rye flour and bran mixed 2 x 1)
6 TBLS Gluten
1 TBLS Coarse Salt
1 medium onion, well chopped
2 TBLS caraway seeds (crushed with mortar and pestle)
2 TBLS Charnushka (see note)
2 TBLS Dark Molasses

The Process
In a large Mixing bowl, pour the 2/3-cup of warm H2O. Sprinkle in the yeast, add the 1 TBLS sugar over the yeast. Cover the bowl and put in a warm place and let ferment until the yeast is frothy. (About 15 min.) I place mine in my oven, heated only by the pilot light.

Meanwhile chop the onion and set it aside. In another bowl, combine the flours and gluten.

When yeast has worked up, add the beer, sourdough starter, salt, molasses, 2 cups of warm H2O, onion, caraway seed and Charnushka. Mix well. Gradually add the flours and mix until it becomes too stiff to mix. Turn it out on a floured board and begin your kneading. Keep it up for 10 to 15 min. Adding small amounts of white flour as needed. Keep this up until dough becomes soft and shiny. (And is no longer sticky) I interweave the kneading with pounding the dough to activate the gluten. (I form the dough into a mound and pound the hell out of it with the flay of my hand.) When ready, place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled. (About 1 1/2 to 2 hours) I use an 8QT, plastic container with a tight cover that works wonders. Meanwhile clean up your work surface. (I have a large wooden board that I work on. After the first rise, DO NOT FLOUR THE WORK SURFACE! See Note.) Put a light film of oil or water on the work surface. Dump the dough out, and form it into a mound and let it rest a few minutes. Cut the dough into 2 equal pieces and form into 2 round loaves. Place into lightly oiled baking pans, cover and let rise. I cover the 2 loaves with a dishtowel and place them in a warm spot on my kitchen table to let them rise. (this takes about 30 to 45 min. depending on house temp.)

Meanwhile, I heat oven to 400. When the loaves have risen, I brush their tops with an egg wash. (1 egg with 1 TBLS milk) I sprinkle well with Charnushka and put it into oven to bake. I bake about 25 min. or more until the tops are well browned. I use an inexpensive instant thermometer to check for doneness. You insert the thermometer into the center of the bread and when you get a reading of 180, or 200, the bread is done. The variation has to do with you oven. In my oven I look for 200. When the bread is done, remove from oven and let stand and cool about 10 min. Then remove them from the pans and place them on drying racks to cool. Allow the bread to cool before cutting into them. Enjoy!!!

NOTES:

Charnushka is a rough looking black seed, also known as Russian Caraway. It has a wonderful unique flavor, which I remember from my youth. The Jewish bakers in the neighborhood where I grew up used it in and on their rye breads and pumpernickels. I found it in the Penzys Catalogue, (which I wrote about in a previous column.) Try to find it. I think once you try it you?ll be hooked.

?Do not flour work surface for the second rising!? Sharon, my companion was a fabulous baker and I learned a lot from her. She was taking a baking class and learned from the pros that were teaching there to never flour the board for the second rising. They told her that no Pro ever does, because it can leave uncooked rings of flour in the breads. (Despite the fact that almost every baking book tells you to. It makes me think that cookbook writers are writers and not bakers!)

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