- Never add salt directly to yeast - that will kill it. Only add salt once you've mixed the yeast mixture with some of the flour.
- A good temperature for yeast to be most active in bread-making is water that is 95°F.
- Don't be tempted to add too much extra flour to bread when kneading because it's sticking to your fingers. Too much flour can make the resulting bread tough or dense.
- Give the dough plenty of time to rise until it doubles in size. In this recipe, I generally leave it rise, tightly covered, for approximately 2 hours in a warm area of the kitchen/house.
- Once you have formed the bread and placed it on the baking sheet, give it enough time to proof before placing it in the oven.
- Place a small metal pan on the rack below the bread and fill it will 2-3 Tablespoons cold water once you place the dough in the oven. This will help keep a little steam in the oven so the bread doesn't dry out and can expand during the initial stages of baking.
- Rotate the bread halfway through baking if you think your oven may not heat evenly. But don't open the oven door more than this - you'll create too many temperature fluctuations that can impact the bread baking process.
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 cups dark rye flour
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/8 cup warm water (95°F)
1/2 Tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 cup carrots (1 cm cubes)
1/2 cup parsnips (1 cm cubes)
1 large shallot, finely chopped (not pictured above)
1 Tablespoon rosemary, finely chopped
3 Tablespoons olive oil
DIRECTIONS:
- Heat a pan over medium-low heat, and add the carrots, parsnips, shallots, rosemary and a bit of salt. Cook until the carrots and parsnips soften a bit (approx. 10 minutes). Keep the heat low enough to not burn the rosemary. Once done, drain any residual oil and allow the mixture to cool.
- Pour the warm water into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast evenly over the water surface. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then stir the yeast into the water.
- Mix the rye and bread flour together and add half the mixture to the water. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Add the salt and most of remaining flour until the mixture starts to hold together. You may not need to use all the flour.
- Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a lightly floured surface, and knead for 10-15 minutes until the gluten starts to develop.
- Flatten out the dough and add the carrot-parsnip mixture. Fold the ends of the dough over and continue kneading for another 5 minutes until the vegetables are evenly incorporated into the dough, adding a bit of extra flour if the dough becomes oily.
- Form the dough into a ball, place in a bowl and cover tightly (e.g., use Press-n-Seal Wrap) and allow the dough to rise until doubled in size (approximately 2 hours)
- Once the dough has doubled in size, remove dough, place on kneading surface and "punch down" (flatten out). This doesn't have to be dramatic. You just want to press the air out of it. Cover with a cloth or plastic wrap and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place a small metal pan on a lower oven rack. You'll add some water to the pan later.
- Shape the dough into a baguette (or whatever shape you like) and place onto a baking sheet liberally sprinkled with cornmeal. Generously sprinkle the top of the dough with flour and cover with a cloth or plastic wrap to allow the dough to proof (approximately 20-25 minutes).
- Once the dough has proofed, use a sharp serrated knife to slash the bread. The slashes help the bread to expand while baking. Be careful to not deflate the bread during the slashing - a sharp knife helps.
- Add 2-3 Tablespoons cold water to the pan on the lower rack and place the baking pan on the middle rack of the oven. Close the oven door and bake approximately 25-30 minutes, or until the bread turns golden and comes to an internal temperature of between 200-210°F.
- Remove the bread and place on a metal rack to cool.
- Once the bread has cooled, transfer to a cutting board, slice and enjoy!