3 replies to this topic

[iowahiker]

The long story:  I saw two rye bread cooking segments on PBS last winter and was inspired to try my hand at rye bread.  Baking bread is a decades old hobby and, as with my previous excursions into bread baking, purchased THE book, "The Rye Baker" by Stanley Ginsberg.  The cook book provided the necessary skills to produce a rye bread recipe to my own taste, maximum taste for a minimum of effort.  Actually, rye bread baking exceeded my expectations since I never liked any whole grain wheat bread (homemade or commercial) but enjoy whole grain rye bread's taste.  The start of the camping season did provide a challenge since my Granby does not have an oven.  So, after some experimentation (for breakfast):

 

One Rye Porridge Cake:

 

3 +/- tablespoons whole grain rye flour, usually labeled "dark rye flour".  My favorite is Bob's Red Mill.

2-3 teaspoons dry milk

2-3 teaspoons cooking oil, I use canola but olive oil works too

 

Add water in small increments while mixing to produce a thick fluid batter.

 

Pour onto a hot oiled griddle and cook to lightly tan-brown, flip and cook to a light tan-brown.  Cooking to a darker brown creates a chewy cake.  

 

Spread on honey or a jelly packet to taste and enjoy.

 

No refrigeration.  No leavening.  No sweetener other than the topping.

 

Rye plants are unusual in today's industrial food system: rye can beat weeds without herbicide; grows in cold places with lower quality soil; and does not need fertilizer.

 

Rye porridge cakes takes me back to my forefathers (German) 20 generations ago: pick some seeds,  grind them, add water, and cook.  They ate 3 pounds per day per person of the stuff back then. 

Edited by iowahiker, 25 May 2018 - 09:26 PM.

[Old Crow]

I had iowahiker's rye porridge cakes for breakfast the last two mornings.... yesterday with a bit of jam, today with a trickle of honey.

 

I like 'em! 

 

The Bob's Red Mill listing for the Dark Rye flour told me I could find the flour at my local natural-foods store.  I also bought some canola oil there but substituted CoffeeMate Original powdered coffee creamer I already had on hand for the dry milk (a suggestion I found on the Web).

 

I'm happy to say they're pretty much idiot-proof.... even for my very limited cooking skills. 

 

Yesterday's cooking session went fine but this morning I thought I'd put the powdered ingredients in a plastic bag, add the oil and water, and knead the bag to make the batter.  My thought was I'd make up the pre-measured bags for a trip to avoid having to tote the powder containers and I'd avoid cleanup of a mixing bowl and spatula.    Well, I made two mistakes.  First, I used too-small a bag.  As  soon as I started kneading, that forced some oil out the top and now I had an oily bag to deal with.  No big deal.

 

The second thing I did wrong was to fail to thin the batter enough in the bag.  I ended up with a stack of batter on the griddle.   No problem, though. As it cooked a bit, I was able to simply smush the batter-stack down and carry on. 

 

 

.

[bj40]

My gal has been making a variety of Rye breads from the same cookbook for the past year. Delicious bread and it both freezes well and can sit on the counter for days and days without losing moistness. My hobby is the eating part.

[iowahiker]

I have become quite attached to rye porridge cakes for breakfast and have had 40+ breakfasts on the road.  My wife's preferred recipe is different:

 

2 tablespoons "just add water" pancake mix of any variety

1 tablespoon whole grain rye flour also known as dark rye flour

2-3 teaspoons dry milk

1-2 teaspoons canola oil

 

Add water to make a thick batter.

Cook on an oiled griddle till brown, flip, and cook the other side to brown. 

Top with honey or a jelly packet.

 

Her's are too sweet for me since the mix has sugar and I enjoy a stronger rye taste.