Medieval Horsebread Recipes

MEDIEVAL HORSEBREAD

Steps:

• Place barley in a jar and cover with water. Seal jar and let stand 24 hours.
• Drain, saving the liquid, rinse and place back in the jar. Cover with a towel and let stand, turned upside down, overnight. Repeat the rinse / drain process three times more, saving the water each time.
• Wash dried yellow split peas and place them in a medium sized bowl. Cover with water and leave overnight to soak.
• Mix together the starter, flours, salt and 350 mL barley water (drained from step 2) until a thick wet dough forms. Leave in the fridge, covered, overnight. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour to warm up before proceeding.
• Drain split peas and add to a food processor with the barley. Pulse to coarsely chop, set aside.
• Knead rested dough for 10 minutes with the dough hook or 20 minutes by hand, adding flour as necessary to achieve a slightly sticky, but not wet, dough.
• Knead in the chopped split pea mixture.
• Form into a ball and place on a heavily floured tea towel.
• Place towel-wrapped loaf in a basket, bowl or banneton and leave to rise 24 hours at cool room temperature (don't try to shortcut this step - it's a heavy loaf and needs a *long* rise).
• Place a large baking tray or pizza stone in the oven and heat oven to 450F (preferably convection).
• Turn loaf out onto a parchment lined rimless baking sheet or pizza peel and transfer to the hot pan or baking stone.
• Score loaf with a sharp knife and place in the oven.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven to 425F (preferably convection) and bake another hour.
• Turn out on a wire rack to cool.

EASY HOMEMADE RYE BREAD

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment, combine the warm water and honey, then sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and let it proof for 5 minutes.
• Add the milk, salt, oil, bread flour, whole wheat flour, rye flour, and caraway seeds to the yeast mixture and knead on medium-low speed until the dough starts to come together. I always start with the lower amount of bread and whole wheat flours listed, then add more as needed.
• Increase the speed to medium-high and knead for 8-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl.
• Place the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl and cover with a towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
• When the dough has risen, punch it down and transfer to a clean work surface. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then shape it into a loaf and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with a towel and let rise for another hour until doubled in size again.
• When the dough is close to being doubled in size, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Slash the dough with a sharp knife to create gashes on top. Open the oven and throw a few ice cubes on the bottom when you place the bread in to bake. This will create steam that will make for a great crust to the bread. Bake for 30 minutes until crusty and golden brown.