Recapturing the Joy of Germany

I was born in Germany and lived there for the first three years of my life. Later, when I was eight, my family moved there again for an additional three years, thanks to my father's career in the Army. I loved Germany. The smell in the air during the winter months, the feel of the snow on my face. But the food was something I can never forget. Nothing is like German food. The bratwurst, the brotchen, lebkuchen, and of course bauernbrot. I have worked hard at finding recipes to recapture the tastes of my youth when my sisters and I would catch the mini bus to downtown and wander the cobblestone streets full of the smells of crepes and pommes frites. We would stuff ourselves on the food from the vendors as we popped in and out of the shops, returning home with considerably less money in our pockets, all pink faced from the cold, showing our mother the treasures we'd found.

So far I have found the perfect recipe for brotchen and at Yuletide my friends and family adore my homemade lebkuchen. Recently I came across a recipe for bauernbrot, a brown farmer's bread made from white and rye flours. Go to any German bakery or restaurant, and most likely you'll get a basket of this bread sliced and served with butter. Its a must for the open-faced sandwiches or even better, a tasty schnitzel sandwich with lemon juice and pommes frites. So I set aside today to try out this recipe and make this tasty blast from my past!

For the bauernbrot you will need:

2 3/4 cup of warm water                                
1 (1/4 ounce) packet active dry yeast  (I use bulk packaged yeast and a kitchen scale but packets work great and are easier to measure)                                 
3 1/4 teaspoons non-iodized salt                                   
5 1/2 cups all purpose  flour                        
2 1/4 cups rye flour

First you will dissolve the yeast in the water. A little whisk works well in getting it mixed up nicely. Pour this into the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Add the salt, then the rye flour, then the all purpose flour, mixing thruroughly with a wooden spoon.

Once everything is coming together and its getting a bit tough to stir by hand, dump the mixture, scraping the bowl, into the working bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attatched. Turn on to a medium speed until the dough is combined and pulling from the sides.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for about ten minutes. Form into a large ball and let rise in a greased bowl covered with a towel in a warm place for about twenty minutes. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 480 degrees with a baking sheet you don't mind turning funny colors down on the bottom wrack.

Punch down the dough and knead again and then divide into two loaves, shaping into rounds. Place on a greased baking sheet covered with a damp towel.  Let rise for about 30-60  minutes. You can brush the bread loaves with either buttermilk, yogurt or coffee during this rise to get a nice crust, but make sure the top of the bread does not dry out!

Once the loaves have about doubled in size, place them in the oven and pour boiling water into the heated sheet pan on the bottom wrack, quickly close the oven. This is creating steam and letting the bread get a nice interior. (This is how the sheet pan turns funny colors. Best to keep that pan specifically for that purpose in future). Drop the oven temperature to 430 degrees. Bake for 40-60 minutes or until the crust is a nice brown.

Cool your loaves on cooling wracks completely before slicing and enjoying! This bread is amazing with just some butter, or add some munster cheese, onions and a touch of paprika for an kasebrot. Its also great with butter and jam, coldcuts, liverwurst or a nice smudge of cream cheese. I hope this recipe takes you back to Germany, if you've ever been that is, just like it took me. Enjoy!

Brightest Blessings!