Had a hankering for some classic jewish deli rye, so I figured I might as well add that to my repertoire. Or at the very least, start the experimentation process. Who knew that pickle juice is a main ingredient?

I REALLY REALLY wanted to used my rye sour-dough starter, so I did something you should not do whilst baking bread (especially as a beginner), I jerry-rigged the recipe. I used this recipe as a guideline, but substituted the dry yeast for my starter. Also added the salt after the first ‘rest’ and after the mixer stage, I kneaded the dough every hour or so, and then left it in a bread basket, in the fridge, overnight.

After the final proofing, I cut it in half, to make two smaller loaves. It looked so cool, like professional rye bread! then I added an egg wash and some caraway seeds to the top.

            

The final result was a little more chewy than I expected, right out of the oven. I’ll let it ‘set’ and taste it again.

Update: After an hour, I sampled it again, making a mini ham and swiss on rye with mayo and mustard. Total yum. Success!

Of course, then I had to make Chicken Matzoh Ball Soup to go with…

Check out my 2nd and 3rd attempts.