June 23, 2008 - 10:33am
Nury's Light Rye - ;-)
Nury Light Rye baked 6-21-08
Nury Light Rye crumb baked 6-21-08
Delicious as always!
But ... I've never baked a loaf that came out of the oven winking at me before.
David
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Nury Light Rye baked 6-21-08
Nury Light Rye crumb baked 6-21-08
Delicious as always!
But ... I've never baked a loaf that came out of the oven winking at me before.
David
Comments
I still have two loaves in the freezer but I love to make this bread and always want to start a batch. In my humble opinion it has the best flavor.
And now it's going start winking...how can I stay away. Great job as usual. weavershouse
He's smiling, too! Looks a little mischievous.
Nice! I agree with you on the taste, it's one of the best!
Jane
Thanks, weavershouse and Jane.
I was just thinking (always a hazardous undertaking): Nury's rye is so similar in concept to Reinhart's formula for pain a l'ancienne, I wonder how it would be cut into thinner strips and baked as "baguettes." Hmmmm .... If baked at a higher temperature for a shorter time, would the crust stay crisp?
The thought of a baguette with a crackly crust and a Nury Light Rye crumb is pretty tempting. Is it achievable?
David
So many times I've thought I ought to just cut and stretch this loaf out and see what I get...but I never do. It will take you to see what can be done with Nury's Rye. I did make a pizza dough with it (thanks mini 0) and it was terrific. I'm sure you will come up with something great David. I'll be waiting. weavershouse
David
I've never used that adjective for bread before, but it suits here. I look for your blog posts, your pictures are always a treat. Thank you for sharing them.
Marni
I had forgotten about that recipe, David, and appreciate your posting. This is one of the few formulas I can bake midweek - so long as I remember to take the dough out of the fridge as soon as I get home from work. Love the smilely face!
Hi, Marni and Lindy.
I hesitated to post this yet again, but every time I have blogged about Nury's Light Rye, at least one person thanks me for reminding them about this bread and how good it is, as LindyD just did. So, I guess I'll keep doing it.
Lindy, I am always trying to find formulas that make great bread with procedures that allow for mid-week baking. Nury's is one.
Sourdoughs that have a cold fermentation of the formed loaves can be shaped and refrigerated Sunday for proofing and baking Monday evening. The problem is getting started early enough so the loaves are cool enough to bag or freeze by bedtime. I've been forced to under-proof loaves a few times in order to get to bed by a decent hour. I am generally unhappy with the results.
I'm making another batch of Nury's rye right now. I activated my starter before going to bed last night. This morning, just before leaving for the office, I mixed the firm levain, which will ripen while I'm at work. I'll mix the dough, ferment it with turns, etc. this evening. It should be ready to refrigerate overnight by bedtime. I'll bake tomorrow evening. Very doable.
David
David,
You do great work. As usual, lovely loaf; crust and crumb---and judging from its nice smile your loaf must have enjoyed the experience. Rye being my favorite, I must give that recipe a try...soon. Thanks for your post.
Howard - St. Augustine, FL
If you have not yet made this bread, you are truly depriving yourself of a treat.
Do understand that there is only a little rye in the formula, but it adds a lot to the flavor.
I've made a number of breads that brought a silly grin to my face, but this is the first bread that grinned back. Maybe I just haven't been paying attention though.
David
David,
I haven't made it before and yours looked so good I decided to do it. So, right after I posted (to your entry) I opened up Leader's Local Breads, to the Pierre Nury Rustic Light Rye recipe (that's the one, right?), and just finished making the levain for its overnight fermentation. The only thing that might cause a problem is my starter. I've been feeding it regularly and think it's in good shape. I'll find out soon enough. I'll let you know how it goes.
Howard - St. Augustine, FL
Hi, Howard.
You are more than welcome!
You have the right recipe.
FWIW, I use King Arthur Bread Flour and Guisto's Organic (whole) Rye for this bread. I mixed at Speed 3 in my KitchenAid Accolade for 10 minutes to get window paning, then folded on the bench before putting in a bowl to ferment.
I'm making another batch this evening. It's on it's 2nd hour fermenting, about to get its second folding. My plan is to use half the dough to make baguettes and the other half to make pizza. Because of what I'm going to make, I shorted the water by a tablespoon or two to get a 70-75% hydration dough rather than 80%. If following the recipe, I find Leader's recommended proportions perfect.
Our tomato jungle is producing like crazy with the hot weather we have had, and I have fresh basel in the garden and some Italian deli fresh mozzarella balls. Sounds like Pizza Margherita for dinner tomorrow!
David
I have a Kitchen Aid so your mixing ( folding and hydration tips) are very helpful. I don't have Guisto's rye so I'll be using Arrowhead Mills organic rye. Your crumb was lovely, I'd be happy with anything close to what you got.
I lived in Europe for a few years and one of my favorite leisure food was Pizza Margherita. In the Alt Stadt (old section of town) in Duesseldorf there was an Italian restaurant that had a wood fired oven and they made fantastic pizzas (especially Margherita), some of the best I ever tasted. They made small individual pizzas similar to the ones Wolfgang Puck makes...and the pizza oven in that little restaurant ran non-stop, producing a steady stream of pizzas everytime I was there. So when you said fresh basil, fresh mozzarella and fresh tomatoes it brought back memories of that little Italian restaurant and made my mouth water.
Howard - St. Augustine, FL
Watch out Howard... this one's addicting! I've been making it or one similar about once a week and doubling the recipe. That's how much I love the taste! I'm particularly addicted to it as toast with butter and honey.
BTW David, I was in a rush the other day and skipped the overnight fermentation. You would never even know it was the same bread (at least for a Light rye connaisseur). So, I have started a real one.
Jane
I just don't want to quit.
Hi, Jane. Now I don't have to try baking Nury's rye without retarding it. One less experiment.
Tomorrow night we will see how this dough works as pain a l'ancienne-type baguettes. Not to mention pizza.
David
Jane,
Thanks for your post. Without sounding like I've completely lost my marbles, I think one's taste for bread develops in a simlar way that it does for wine. It takes a while and quite a few tasting experiences to understand and sort out the subtleties and character of what one really likes. From my point of view the great rye breads (light and dark) and some mixtures of wheat, white and rye approach the complexities of a good wine (bordeaux comes to mind) made from high quality ingredients producing great flavor and character through fermentation. Of course, that's a loose analogy and a sommelier would probably "show me the door" very quickly for talking in those terms. But I think you understand my thinking.
I remember prefering white wine when I first began drinking wine and then I slowly began to appreciated reds---although I don't drink very much wine anymore, now my wine of choice (unless it's with seafood) is red. I won't go near a discussion as to which country produces the best wines. However, a rough wine gauge is, wines are like automobiles in a sense, the more you spend the better it usually gets.
Anyway, the wine analogy, for me, has sort of been the way my journey with bread has gone. Started out with the direct baking method and white breads and now I truly enjoy the flavors of fermented rye and whole wheats and mixtures of the two. That's a long winded way of getting around to saying that I can't wait to taste this Nury rye bread :-).
Howard - St. Augustine, FL
I'm with you there. This type of bread grew on me. I have experienced the same thing with coffee, tea and wine. People who know me well know that I won't even touch a coffee that comes out of a red package (here it is a certain type and different brands make it). I recently read something about the developement of flavour recognition and appreciation. It talked about putting sugar in coffee which essentially blocks all the aromas and the bitter taste that an experienced and mature palette can appreciate.
But food appreiciation is a long, long topic.
In the meantime... try the rye!!!
Jane
MiniO. If you are looking in ... I plan on using Nury's rye dough for pizza. If I recall correctly, you have done this. Any tips?
Did you toss, stretch on the bench or roll it out? I assume you stretched, topped and baked immediately. I also assume you made your pizza after the overnight cold fermentation.
(I'm going to also post this as a message. You only need to reply once.)
David
I've been reading all of you raving about this bread, and it's killing me! The only hang up I have is; can it be made without a mixer? I don't have one and don't generally notice the lack, but it sounds like these really slack doughs can't really be done without one.
Any thoughts? I might just have to try it with some combination of resting and mixing by hand. Maybe after things calm down here after the holiday...
Keep posting and blogging about it, I'm loving reading about it!
edh
edh,
With the exception of ciabatta and maybe some other very high-hydration (very wet doughs, that you really need a mixer to make) I can't think of any doughs that can't be done by hand. The last time I did the Maggie Glezer Acme Bakery baguettes I did the entire process, bypassing the use of my Kitchen Aid mixer. I prefer to do that on my first attempt at making a new bread recipe. I really like to touch and feel the dough to understand its characteristics; texture, tackiness, elasticity, extensibility, etc. This Nury rye bread can certainly be made my hand. As I write this post the initial dough mix for the Nury rye bread is resting for 20 minutes to allow the flour to absorb the water sufficiently. So, my answer would be yes. Do it by hand if you don't have a mixer. On word of caution...DON'T fall into the trap of adding more flour than is called for just because you may think the dough seems a little too wet. Regardless of how much the dough sticks to your hands...don't fall into the trap. To do so will ruin it.
EDIT: edh, I see what you're talking about re: questioning whether or not this recipe can be done by hand. The only method specified in Leader's recipe is by mixer (Kitchen Aid at medium speed (4)). David Snyder who gets terrific results (crust and especially crumb) with this bread suggest K.A. at speed 3 for 10 minutes. I'll go with David's recommendation. Anyway, maybe I spoke too soon about not needing a mixer. Because it's late at night and I need 3 hours for initial rise and 2 stretch and folds before it gets retarded overnight I used my K.A. to speed up the process this go round. But I am committed to making this bread without the mixer in the next week or so. I'll let you know how and if it works out and the difference. If David is out there maybe he could offer his thoughts on mixing it by hand.
Howard - St. Augustine, FL
Hi, edh.
There are bakers on TFL who knead slack doughs by hand. The best technique seems to be the "French fold," rather than really kneading.
I always mix by machine, but that's because I'm accustomed to this method, am lazy and am usually pressed for time. None of these are virtues.
If you want more insight into this bread, I heartily recommend zolablue's original blog entry. I just re-read it and am reminded that weavershouse has made Nury's Light Rye by hand. I suggest posting a new forum entry asking for her advice, although she gave her method in zolablue's blog. See ...
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/5500/pierre-nury’s-rustic-light-rye-leader
Good luck! Go for it, and let us know how it works for you.
David
Hi edh,
I don't have a mixer and always make this bread (and any other bread) by hand. Each time I turn it out on my board to fold I think "this time it might be too wet" but after the first folding it's good and after the second it's fine. This is my all time favorite bread, give it a try and you'll see why so many of us here on TFL love it.
Like David says, read over the original post from zolablue (Oh, where is she?) and give it a try. I think I said in the original post that I knead it for a few minutes but I don't really knead it anymore but will maybe give it a couple of turns if the dough feels like it needs it. weavershouse
Just found ya.
Yep, a '"wooden paddle bowl" recipe. That's how I mix high hydration doughs by hand. Catch my bowl with my left arm and just beat the dough under (after it has sit 30 min) with a sturdy wooden rice spoon, or boat paddle. Same effect. In making lots of noise, anyone listening will know how much hand work is involved. Good luck edh! Ah, who am I trying to kid? This bread my be ugly but it tastes great! No luck needed. Anyone try this as thin bread sticks?
Mini O
Oh I'm so excited; I'm afraid I've been intimidated (without ever having tried) by these super slack recipes that call for mixers. Thanks to ehanner's recommendation, I got a dough whisk for xmas, so I'm just going to jump in and try it.
Not until after the holiday though; we're supposed to be barbequeing 135 lbs of pork ribs for a fund-raiser first...
David (from your other thread) I'm green with envy over your tomatoes! Ours (the plants) are only a foot tall as yet. No fruit until the very end of August...
Thanks all!
edh
Remember tomatoes! ;-) Not to mention who is the NCAA college baseball champ? California State University, Fresno!
I know it was cruel, but when I first moved back to California after completing my training in Boston, I used to call my friends back east every February just to tell them about the bulbs blooming, and the peach and almond trees blooming and the 60 degree days.
I grew up, eventually, sort of.
edh: I know you will love the Nury Rye, as long as you don't get tennis elbow mixing it. Remember to tell us about it. Meantime, good luck with the fund-raiser!
David
No jokes about Fresno here; we've had a fire in the woodstove most mornings for the last couple of weeks. A little intolerable heat would be most tolerable just now. Getting the garden going is proving a little more challenging than some years!
I'm not really complaining; I actually like the fog, which is sort of a prerequisite for living Downeast...
Thanks for the good wishes; the fund-raiser is lots of fun but, like anything of the sort, is a lot of work beforehand!
Looking forward to baking again,
edh