“Since I claim this bread as my own invention, I was amused recently to read in a history of the early settlers that they made a similar bread with rye and cornmeal as the ingredients. They called it ‘Rye ‘n’ Injun’ bread.”
Ingredients
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rye flour (dark, if available)
1/3 cup cornmeal, either yellow or white
1 tablespoon dry yeast dissolved with 1 tablespoon sugar in about 1/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
1-1/2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon caraway seeds (optional)
egg white mixed with water or milk for glaze
Instructions
Put all four flours in a large bowl and stir together. Stir in the dissolved yeast. Melt the butter in the buttermilk over low heat, add the salt, cool slightly, and gradually add to the flour to make a smooth, firm dough. (Add additional white flour if necessary.) Add caraway seeds if desired. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled; this will take at least 1-1/2 hours. Punch the dough down and form into a round ball. Place in a well-greased round form (bread can also be baked free-form on a greased cookie sheet). Brush the top with a little egg white mixed with water or milk. Let rise until nearly doubled. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, until bread sounds hollow when tapped. This is a firm dark bread and can be cut in thin slices when cool.
